Seven has confirmed Australia Got Talent will no longer air in 2021 after the network made the decision to postpone production yesterday.
After enduring two weeks of quarantine, high profile performer Neil Patrick Harris and British recording artist Alesha Dixon will be returning home without having put a foot on stage after the decision to delay production until 2022.
TV Blackbox exclusively revealed on Monday evening that Seven and production company Fremantle Media had decided to postpone production on the series due to the increased lockdown measures being imposed in Sydney.
Production had initially been scheduled to occur at Sydney’s Star Casino last week but was then moved to Rooty Hill RSL in an attempt to avoid lockdown zones. No filming had taking place prior to the decision to postpone production.
A spokesperson for Seven confirmed the decision telling TV Blackbox:
“Due to the current COVID-19 restrictions in Sydney, we have 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.
A big thank you to our judges – Neil Patrick Harris, Kate Ritchie, Alesha Dixon and Shane Jacobson – and our host Ricki-Lee, and we hope to see you again soon.
“The postponement is disappointing, but there is a lot of great content to come on Seven across the rest of 2021, including Farmer Wants A Wife – which starts this Sunday – The Voice, SAS Australia, Big Brother VIP, more of our high-rating 7NEWS Spotlight specials, a special on William Tyrrell, the AFL Finals Series, Bathurst 1000 and, of course, the Tokyo Olympics.”
TV Blackbox understands Seven will now move to produce additional episodes of celebrity series Big Brother VIP, and current affairs series 7NEWS Spotlight to fill the programming gap.
While it’s expected the high-profile celebrity judge line-up will receive their full payments for the series, its likely a large percentage of the crew who were stood down on Monday will not be so lucky.
Seven originally commissioned this season of Australia’s Got Talent to air in 2020, but the network then made the decision to delay production by 12 months due to the implementation of international border closures.
This year’s season was to have featured “some of Australia’s best entertainers go head-to-head with the world’s most memorable Got Talent acts from around the world.”
Joining Neil Patrick Harris and Alesha Dixon in the judging line-up was to have been radio host Kate Ritchie and entertainer Shane Jacobson. Musician Ricki-Lee had been announced as returning to the hosting role.
The decision by Seven to suspend production on AGT comes after the network previously confirmed the LIVE Grand Finale episode of Big Brother will be produced on Tuesday evening without a studio audience.
In 2020, TV Blackbox exclusively revealed Seven had been forced to postpone production of Holey Moley in the US after a series of setbacks including heavy rain and the arrival of COVID-19.
