Category — Foxtel

Having relocated to Los Angeles since 2009, former Australian Idol host Andrew Günsberg will return to Australia to host a local version of the UK reality competition, Got To Dance.

Günsberg has expressed great enthusiasm for this hosting gig, as it’s a return to where his career first began in 1999, as a presenter on Foxtel’s Channel [V].

It will also be his second time working on this show, as he previously hosted the US version of Got To Dance in early 2011, called Live To Dance. The American series had a judging panel that included Idol’s Paula Abdul, who has since gone to judge The X Factor USA following Live To Dance‘s axing after only one season. The dancing competition premiered at a promising 10.2m figure on CBS, as the highest rating show of the night, but viewer numbers dropped significantly by the show’s end.

Hopefully, the local version will find an audience on Aussie screens and follow the success that has seen the UK show go to its third season this year. The original series has Australian actor and dancer Adam Garcia as one of the judges.

The audition process for our version is already underway. Dancers from any age bracket or dance genre are welcome to audition for show, with applications open online here. The online form will ask you to list your dance training and experience, and a video showcasing your talents will be required (to be uploaded).

The judges for the show are yet to be announced.

Got To Dance will premiere exclusively to FOX8 later this year.

(Image source: realitytvmagazine)

Australian hairstylist and salon owner, Tabatha Coffey is back with a new season of her reality show Tabatha’s Salon Takeover, now called Tabatha Takes Over! Now residing in New Jersey, Tabatha has been using her business expertise to help failing salons from closing down.

The reality show premieres on Tuesday, April 10 at 9.30pm on Arena.

This season, we will not only see her tackle hair salons, but also establishments such as bakeries, gay clubs, yoghurt shops and health spas! Tabatha mightn’t be an expert in all these industries, but her no-nonsense approach has proved successful in previous seasons.

In response to the change of direction of the show, she said: “people were constantly asking for my help but weren’t in the hairdressing industry, so it really was a natural progression for me to expand my takeovers into other small business.”

“I believe that whatever the industry, business is business, and my no bullsh*t, common sense approach really works.”

The expansion into other businesses may have occurred because they could not find enough hairdressing salons to make up a full season.

Tabatha landed her own reality series four years ago after appearing as a contestant on Bravo’s hairstyling show, Shear Genius.

Tabatha Takes Over premieres exclusively on Arena tomorrow, Tuesday, April 10 at 9.30pm with Tabatha’s first missions being Jungle Red salon in Minneapolis and Club Ripples in Long Beach, California.

(Image source: Chelsea Lauren/WireImage)

After a challenging 24 months fighting cancer and still reeling from a miscarriage, E! News reporter Giuliana Rancic is set to put her hosting duties aside to share her story in a reality special on Foxtel.

E! True Hollywood Story: Giuliana Rancic will premiere on E! on Sunday, April 15 2012 at 8.30pm AEST.

Rancic was diagnosed with breast cancer late last year and has been undergoing treatment. She is now cancer free.

Her public fight against the illness comes after a continued spotlight on her and husband Bill’s struggles with IVF. The treatments had been successful, but Giuliana eventually miscarried in March 2010 and a second attempt later failed to result in a pregnancy.

The couple have previously appeared in their own reality TV Show, Bill and Giuliana on the Style Network. Bill Rancic was the winner of The Apprentice‘s first season in the U.S. in 2004.

Catch E! True Hollywood Story: Giuliana Rancic will premiere on E! on Sunday, April 15 2012 at 8.30pm AEST

The 2012 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras was held on the weekend, with American drag superstar RuPaul dismissing forty back-up dancers at the last minute because she wanted to perform solo.

An insider spoke to The Daily Telegraph, saying it was a shock for the dancers, who prepared and rehearsed all day. However, once RuPaul finished her musical number, the troupe of dancers got to do their part, even without the ‘star’.

Meanwhile, another diva was making noise on the saturday, as a bare-chested Kyle Sandilands was trolling around on popular gay men’s ‘dating’ iPhone app, Grindr. His newly-made profile was under the name ‘big gold mic’ and its welcome message was “Happy Mardi Gras darls x”.

Grindr is generally used to cruise for sex, with GPS navigating so people can locate other online members just kilometres away. As Sandilands’s manager explained, “he did it as a joke”. Apparently, the shock jock thought it would be funny to create a profile, after seeing someone else playing with Grindr during an Australia’s Got Talent recording. Could it be Grant Denyer or Brian McFadden?!

Speaking of Australia’s Got Talent, judge Dannii Minogue is in Sydney for the talent quest, but also attended the Mardi Gras to watch sister Kylie perform. However, Dannii’s partner, Kris Smith gave the show a miss as he spent the weekend in Melbourne on ‘daddy duties’ while having a ‘lad’s weekend’. The Football Superstar host said that the Mardi Gras just isn’t his thing.

While Kris hasn’t embraced the gay culture of Mardi Gras, Home and Away‘s Dan Ewing loves to call himself ‘gay-friendly’. The actor and contestant on last year’s Dancing with the Stars, attended the Belvedere/DNA party at the Beresford and was often asked about his sexual orientation. For those who don’t know, DNA is an Australian gay magazine, featuring half-naked models. In the Daily Telegraph’s Sydney Confidential, Ewing says he doesn’t “have a problem going to gay clubs and hanging out on Oxford Street” and attended the event with his fiancé, Marni Little.

The reigning champion of Australia’s Next Top Model, Montana Cox, is certainly proving her title with five appearaces at Milan Fashion Week, where she has lauched an international career on the runway.

The 18 year-old was signed by the powerful agency Chic here in Sydney, and has been modelling for a few months since winning the competition on FOX8.

Cox is now in France, preparing for Paris Fashion Week .

Some contestants from Australia’s Next Top Model have found promising success after the show, including 2007’s winner, Alice Burdeu, who was part of an international campaign for D&G.

(Source: The Herald Sun)

Leading the Style Network’s reality TV offerings next month is the Australian premiere of new series, The Amandas on Monday, March 5 at 8.30pm.

The show is centred on professional ‘organiser’ Amanda LeBlanc and her team as they bring their business across America to help those in need of some changes in the home. As someone who lost her house and belongings in Hurricane Katrina, Amanda works hard to make better homes for many families.

Although the concept of The Amandas isn’t too different to a Style Network show on air at the moment, it does present itself as a classier version of all the different home makeover programs out there. There’s even an online store where you can buy special de-cluttering devices, like jars, boxes and trays! Looks impressive for something so simple. The other home styling show on the network is Clean House, which is currently airing its ninth season on Mondays at 6.30pm.

Also set for the Style Network in March is the season 4 premiere of Jerseylicious. It will air on Foxtel from Thursday, March 8 at 8.30pm and will once again follow the employees of the Gatsby Salon in Green Brook, New Jersey.

This season, we get to see the staff compete against other salons for clients, which will surely be some hair-raising drama! Before the series returns, a marathon of season 3 will air on Thursday, March 1 from 10.30am to 9.30pm. That pretty much covers an entire day if you’re yet to make any plans!

Meanwhile, the second season of Big Rich Texas is already on air every Wednesday at 6.30pm and follows a group of Dallas divas and their daughters at a prestigious country club, where lunch and gossip are equally important. Watch the ladies shop, dine and dish the dirt in this upscale environment.

The Amandas premieres on Monday, March 5 at 8.30pm.
Jerseylicious season 4 premieres on Thursday, March 8 at 8.30pm.
Jerseylicious season 3 marathon airs on Thursday, March 1 from 10.30am to 9.30pm.
Big Rich Texas currently airs on Wednesday at 6.30pm.
Clean House currently airs on Mondays at 6.30pm.

The new channel focuses largely on unscripted, real-life series and high-stakes programs that aim to thrill. As you can probably guess the channel’s programming below is aimed at the male demographic with similar programming to 7MATE though Foxtel told Reality Ravings that they have the first run at the series.

A&E kicks off with the premiere of Aussie doco special, MegaTruckers this Thursday, February 16 at 6.30pm on HD Channel 607 (and SD Channel 230).  The new factual and entertainment channel promises to deliver hundreds of hours of original and exclusive programs from US cable giant A+E Networks. Its upcoming schedule includes Australian premiere seasons of Storage Wars, Storage Wars Texas, Dog the Bounty Hunter, Billy the Exterminator, Pawn Stars, American Pickers, Swamp People, Axe Men and IRT: Deadliest Roads.

The one-hour premiere of MegaTruckers appears promising now that it’s being developed into a full-fledged series. The show follows blue collar man Jon Kelly and his entourage of ‘hard-as-nails’ drivers on an unforgiving trek across Australia’s sunburnt country. The team of haulers will transport some of the world’s largest and heaviest loads, and it won’t be easy.

Catch the launch of Foxtel’s new channel, A&E this Thursday, February 16 at 6.30pm.

Foxtel have released their upcoming shows for next year there are some of the usual suspects like Australia’s Next Top Model, and Project Runway Australia. But there are also some new ones.

Three new Australian productions are The Phone, Shear Genius, and The Contender.

The Phone show’s premise is in each episode two cell phones will be hidden in one city at random places. When the phones start ringing, members of the public are sure to find the phones and answer the calls, and from that moment on become participants in the game! With major cash prizes up for grabs these two strangers have the chance of winning if they decide to collaborate, and successfully accomplish the given missions. Hosted by Justin Melvey.

Do you really think random people will pick them up or they will know where they are? Like you will answer a phone and then decide to continue with the game when you were on your way to an important meeting. Anyway sounds interesting.

Shear Genius will be based on the fabulous US version where hairdresser compete to take out the title of shear genius. A hairdresser is eliminated each week.

The Contender is a reality TV show based on boxing. The US version was very popular.

Australia’s Next Top Model will commence in early 2009, with new host Sarah Murdoch. The second series of Project Runway Australia will be shown mid-year, and Football Superstar will get a second season. Brian McFadden will host the show again.

The good thing about Foxtel is that the shows keep being shown over the non-ratings period.

American Idol will be fasttracked from the US starting in early January. A new dance show called Step It Up And Dance premieres December 7, Sundays at 7.30pm on Arena
Contestants learn what it takes to make it big in the cut-throat dance industry. Celebrated actress and dancer Elizabeth Berkley hosts and Emmy Award nominee and Tony Award-winning director and choreographer Jerry Mitchell will mentor the 12 dancers, as they master every conceivable dance style, from ballet and ballroom to Broadway and burlesque. First prize is $US100,000.

Another new one is Instant Beauty Pageant which premieres December 9, Tuesdays at 9.30pm on Arena.

This show challenges ordinary women to shop till they drop, strut their stuff and compete for their very own title and tiara! What starts as an ordinary day at the mall turns into high-tension TV when five very special shoppers are ambushed and invited to participate in a real live beauty pageant. They have three hours to get ready beauty pageant.

Ok this one could be ordinary, but of course I will watch it.

In January Top Chef: New York will commence. It starts tonight in the US. Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style is back as is Top Design Season 2. India Hicks will be the new host of this series of Top Design with Todd Oldham becoming a mentor.

Of course Tyra will be back with America’s Next Top Model Cycle 12 on Fox 8.

Another new show called Vanity Lair premieres January 6, Tuesdays at 8.30pm on Arena
Over the course of a summer, ten beautiful people will move into the impressive Vanity Lair mansion. There they will live together, enjoying all the trappings of a luxurious lifestyle. Each week, new people arrive in an attempt to make it into the house. The new arrival, who convinces the residents that they are the most attractive, gets to move in. The repercussion is that in turn, the new arrival kicks out the resident they feel is least attractive. At the end of the series, the most attractive person will win a £10,000 prize.

Sounds bizarre. All that for the equivalent of $30,000 Aus dollars? I imagine in this show your self esteem could get quite a battering.

Finally not reality TV related but allow me one indulgence, Gossip Girl the second series starts on December 9 on Fox 8. This make 90210 look like amateur hour.