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Australia's Got Talent cancelled amid coronavirus lockdown
Just weeks after announcing the star-studded new line-up of judges, Australia's Got Talent has been cancelled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
As reported by TV Blackbox, the network and production company Fremantle Media decided to pull the plug on the talent show and postpone filming due to Sydney's Covid-19 outbreak and resulting lockdown restrictions.
In a statement to the publication, Seven confirmed it had decided to "postpone production of the new season of AGT to a date to be determined."
"A studio audience is a vitally important part of this much-loved show, so we have made the responsible but tough call to not go ahead for now," the statement read, also calling the postponement "disappointing".
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The call was made just days after overseas judges Neil Patrick Harris and Alesha Dixon finished their mandatory two-week quarantine, the stars now instead forced to return home, with production delayed until 2022.
The show's celebrity judges also included former Home And Away star and radio host Kate Ritchie, and actor Shane Jacobson, as well as Aussie singer Riki Lee as host.
They are all "expected to be paid in full" for their time.
Renowned for her 20-year role as Sally Fletcher on Seven's iconic drama, this would have been Kate's first return to series television since 2013.
The cancellation will likely be a blow for Kate, after her Nova colleague and Celebrity Apprentice contestant Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli revealed to Yahoo Lifestyle Kate was 'trilled' over the new gig.
“It’s great, she’ll be so good at that job,” he said at the time.
“I messaged her over the weekend actually when I saw that she locked that in and she said she’s absolutely thrilled.”
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