Georgia Love appears set to embark on a new career with Channel Ten after a stint with the network's The Bachelorette Australia.
The 27-year-old journalist will co-host Christmas episodes of the network's morning program, Studio 10, over the quiet December period, a Channel Ten spokesperson confirmed with Fairfax Media on Monday.
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Melbourne-born Love quit her job as a newsreader for WIN Hobart earlier this year after being approached by Ten producers for the plum Bachelorette role.
And while Love speculated she wouldn't return to journalism at all after starring on the reality romance series, it appears Ten is testing the water for a longer relationship with their latest star.
![Bachelorette Georgia Love with her "forever person", plumber Lee Elliott, but do we care?](/web/20161108050029im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/c/n/b/s/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gsjcn2.png/1478488330038.jpg)
Love's stint on the show will coincide with the non-ratings period, which means the network could test how successful Love is with the Studio 10 audience without impacting the show's ratings.
While the Ten spokesperson said Love was just "filling in", speculation has been rife that Love's Bachelorette role would also come up with a presenting gig.
Speaking to Fairfax Media in September, former TV presenter turned influencer manager Jules Lund predicted Ten would install Love in one of their news programs.
"It depends on how good she is on TV, but Channel Ten could put her into Studio 10," Lund said. "There's no reason why she couldn't finish up in five years' time co-hosting Today or Sunrise."
![Jessica Rowe hosts <i>Studio 10</i> with Ita Buttrose, Sarah Harris and Joe Hildebrand.](/web/20161108050029im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/j/7/q/0/z/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gsjcn2.png/1478488330038.jpg)
Ten would also win from the deal. The Bachelorette could certainly bring star appeal and extra eyeballs to Studio 10, which lags behind its competitors in the mornings timeslot.
Sample figures from one fortnight ago show Studio Ten garnering just 98,000 viewers in the capital cities, behind the 109,000 for Today Extra and112,000 for The Morning Show.
!['We don't need to know about [a newsreader's] personal life': <i>The Bachelorette</i> star Georgia Love on why she might ...](/web/20161108050029im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/b/l/b/e/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gsjcn2.png/1478488330038.png)
It's still an improvement from June, when Studio 10 lagged more than 30,000 behind at 112,000 compared to 149,000 for Today Extra and 158,000 for The Morning Show.
Should Love be given a permanent seat on the couch, the question also arises over which existing star would have to give up their spot.
With four permanent presenters – Sarah Harris, Joe Hildebrand, Ita Buttrose and Jessica Rowe – the format is already crowded.
Love's season on The Bachelorette Australia wasn't exactly ratings gold either. Audience numbers dropped by around 200,000 per episode from Sam Frost's inaugural season.
The finale which aired late last month pulled just 738,00 in the capital cities, down nearly 50 per cent from last year's finale which averaged 1.24 million viewers.
Either way, Love has been able to jump from news reading for a regional market to presenting on a commercial network's national mornings program in the space of six months.
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