Nova FM botched its big reveal about the new co-host of Fitzy & Wippa.
The radio station accidentally confirmed Kate Ritchie was moving from drive to breakfast when a series of outdoor adverts were rolled out by mistake on Thursday.
The announcement was supposed to happen live on air on Friday at 8am, but an apparent miscommunication between Nova and the advertising company meant Sydneysiders saw posters for the new line-up splashed across the CBD a day early.
This PR fail was made worse by the fact the adverts themselves were frankly bizarre and borderline unsettling.
The posters featured the words ‘Coming soon’ next to the faces of Ritchie and co-hosts Ryan ‘Fitzy’ Fitzgerald and Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli, merged together to form a three-headed blob.
Nova FM The radio station accidentally confirmed Kate Ritchie was moving from drive to breakfast when a series of outdoor adverts were rolled out by mistake on Thursday. The announcement was supposed to happen Friday morning at 8am live on Fitzy & Wippa
Nova confirmed in a statement on Friday that Ritchie would be joining Fitzgerald and Wipfli on their Sydney breakfast show on March 13.
‘I am so excited to be joining Fitzy and Wippa in the very competitive breakfast slot,’ Ritchie said.
‘I’m a huge fan of the show and I’ve been great mates with the boys for years. The past eight years on drive has been an important part of my life but I’m thrilled to take on this new challenge by returning to breakfast radio in my hometown.
‘I can’t wait to wake up Sydneysiders beside two of the industry’s much-loved breakfast announcers.’
Fitzgerald and Wipfli added: ‘We’ve been annoying Kate around the office for over ten years; now we get to do it every morning.
‘We are excited for our audience to hear how funny Kate thinks we are. Nova listeners have always loved Kate and now she’ll be served up every weekday. Please enjoy your breakfast.’
The announcement comes a day after Ricki-Lee Coulter was confirmed as Ritchie’s replacement on the Kate, Tim and Joel national drive show
Ritchie had been absent from the afternoon slot for months, during which time she entered a rehab facility for alcohol dependency.
Coulter, 37, said she was ‘so happy’ to be taking over alongside co-hosts Tim Blackwell and Joel Creasey. Their show has now been renamed Ricki-Lee, Tim & Joel.
The announcement was supposed to happen this morning, but an apparent miscommunication between Nova and the advertising company meant Sydneysiders saw posters for the new line-up splashed across the CBD a day early. (Pictured: Kate Ritchie)
This PR fail was made worse by the fact the adverts themselves were bizarre and unsettling. The posters featured the words ‘Coming soon’ next to the faces of Ritchie and co-hosts Ryan ‘Fitzy’ Fitzgerald and Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli, merged together to form a three-headed blob
Nova confirmed in a statement on Friday that Ritchie would be joining Fitzgerald (left) and Wipfli (right) on their Sydney breakfast show on March 13
‘I love Tim and Joel like the brothers I never had but always wanted, and I have been having so much fun in the studio with them – they are the best in the business!’ Coulter said on Thursday.
‘I have so much love for Kate and I’m so happy I’ve been able to help out on the Drive show over the last year. I am pumped to be officially joining the Nova family!’
Tim and Joel added that they are equally excited to have Ricki-Lee onboard, saying her ‘energy gets us all up and about each and every day’.
Ritchie said she wished her successor the best of luck in her new role and was ‘thrilled’ to be moving onto something new.
The announcement comes a day after Ricki-Lee Coulter (left) was confirmed as Ritchie’s replacement on the Kate, Tim and Joel national drive show
‘I’ve had an incredible eight years as part of Nova’s Drive team, and I wish Ricki-Lee all the luck in the world,’ she said.
‘I’m thrilled to be taking on an exciting new challenge and I can’t wait to share what I’m doing next.’
Rumoured surfaced last week Ritchie was planning to jump ship from Nova’s national drive show to the network’s Sydney breakfast program.
She announced last year she was taking a break from the Kate, Tim & Joel show to focus on her health, but sources at the network said she wouldn’t return.
It was later revealed she was seeking treatment for alcohol dependency, after Daily Mail Australia obtained photos of her outside a rehab facility.
‘I’ve had an incredible eight years as part of Nova’s Drive team, and I wish Ricki-Lee all the luck in the world,’ Ritchie (centre) said in a statement
The ex-Home and Away actress subsequently said in a statement the challenges of the past year had led to an ‘unhealthy reliance on alcohol’.
On January 20, the media personality reassured listeners she was ‘doing well’ and would be back on her Nova FM drive show soon.
Meanwhile, Ryan ‘Fitzy’ Fitzgerald and Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli’s co-host Sarah McGilvray faced a ‘brutal’ exit from the show.
Nova FM staff have spoken of their ‘shock’ and ‘confusion’ over the sudden exit of Fitzy and Wippa’s long-serving co-anchor.
Meanwhile, Ryan ‘Fitzy’ Fitzgerald and Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli’s co-host Sarah McGilvray faced a ‘brutal’ exit from the show
Current and former employees of the radio station told Daily Mail Australia they were blindsided by news Sarah was being pushed aside to make way for incoming co-host Kate, with some only learning about it via the press last week.
One staffer said her departure was ‘brutal’ for someone who had ‘given a decade of her life’ to a radio show and was popular with listeners, adding she was ‘tossed aside without so much as a proper goodbye’.
‘The guys at Nova are baffled. Most people didn’t even find out until the stories broke. They had all been asking, “Where is Sarah?” and were confused,’ another said.
Sarah worked on Fitzy and Wippa for 12 years, spending eight of those as a co-host alongside Ryan ‘Fitzy’ Fitzgerald and Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli. Before that, she was a senior producer for the Sydney breakfast program.
Her exit has not been acknowledged on air since she vanished from the show almost three weeks ago after a blow-up with management about her role at the network.
A source with knowledge of the discussion said Sarah was ‘upset and angry’ at her bosses for effectively taking her job away from her by bringing in Kate as a third host.
Nova execs apparently tried to offer her a ‘consolation deal’ that would see her take on a ‘managerial-type role’ within the company, but she rejected it and walked out.
The Fitzy and Wippa show is taking a ‘business as usual’ approach by not mentioning Sarah’s absence – despite listeners flooding their social media pages with questions about when she is coming back.
One insider said it ‘feels like she never existed, even though she was the heart and soul of the show’.
The Fitzy and Wippa show is taking a ‘business as usual’ approach by not mentioning Sarah’s absence – despite listeners flooding their social media pages with questions about when she is coming back
