A story claiming popular 10 personality Natarsha Belling would be moving across to the TODAY show has been flatly denied by Channel 9
The reports made a lot of sense after the shock sacking of Belling, who became a victim of massive budget cuts at Network 10. She was just one of a number of household names who are finishing up at the network in the coming weeks.
As the paper rightly pointed out, Belling is well liked both on camera and behind the scenes. But Darren Wick, Head of News and Current Affairs at Nine, says there has been no approach from either party:
“Tarsh is a great operator but we are not currently looking to expand the team”
Wick says Alex Cullen has combined the roles of news presenter and sports presenter nicely and he sees no reason to change the format back to the traditional idea of having separate presenters for each role.
The news boss also points out TODAY has been able to claim its fifth consecutive week in Brisbane, a market known as being early adopters with changing viewing habits.
Weather presenter Tim Davies has been in Queensland for the past few weeks, beating Sunrise to the punch before quarantine border restrictions were put in place.
While the show is facing a big challenge nationally, a winning streak in Brisbane can help shift the narrative and bring some much needed good news to the breakfast show.
A lot of talk around the industry that the Daily Bailey could fix Today!