Craig Hutchison has accepted full blame for his unceremonious axing from The Footy Show to pave way for the return of Eddie McGuire.
McGuire will return to the The Footy Show after Hutchison was booted from his role on Friday.
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Footy show: Hutchison out, McGuire in, Newman safe
Craig Hutchsion has been booted from his role on The Footy Show and will be replaced by Eddie McGuire.
Hutchison told listeners of his Off the Bench radio show on SEN that he bore responsibility for the show's ratings slump.
"First of all, I totally understand and respect the decision yesterday," he said on Saturday morning.
"Eddie's the best in the caper.... Him (Sam Newman) and Eddie back together will be fantastic. The producers there are fantastic. The show can be a success."
Hutchison nevertheless spoke out in support of the show's producers for quashing Newman's plan to dress as a woman for a sketch on Thursday night about the AFL affairs scandal.
The decision left Newman fuming and sparked questions about his own future on the show.
"For what it's worth, not that anyone's asking, I agree completely with the producer's decision to perhaps curtail that," Hutchison said.
Hutchy very much down to earth, great guy. Takes criticism, doesn't bite back like King Eddie.
— Kathy 🔴⚪⚫ (@matoots57) July 22, 2017
McGuire promised his first order of the day more than a decade after first departing the show would be to let his long-time offsider Sam Newman "off the leash".
The program will take a two-week hiatus before returning with McGuire as host alongside Rebecca Maddern and Sam Newman.
"We aren't doing a little change, this is a rebirth of The Footy Show," McGuire said. "We are going to bring fun back to football. We are going to let Sam off the leash.
"We'll have fun. That's what it is about. This is the most fun you can have. Football is so enjoyable. It's become too serious."
The 23-year-old show has been tanking in the ratings, and was recently beaten by Seven's new kid on the block The Front Bar.
Nine went into crisis control after Newman made a bizarre appearance on the show on Thursday night, refusing to answer questions put to him by fellow panelists.
Rumours immediately began circulating that Newman faced the axe and his unusually reticent performance was to school Nine bosses on what the show would be like without him.
In the end it was Hutchison, who only joined the show this year, who took the fall.
"This has been hours in the making," McGuire confirmed at a hastily assembled press conference on Friday afternoon.
"The Footy Show changed my life. To come back with Bec, who is dominating so much with Ninja Warrior, and my old mate Sam Newman, as long as he is behaving, and to get back into Channel Nine primetime, I am really excited, I am jumping out of my skin"
The move is a lucrative one for McGuire. Network sources confirmed the show will now be jointly be produced by McGuire's production company and Nine.
Questions at the press conference were dominated by Newman's performance the previous night, which led veteran gossip reporter Peter Ford to describe him as a "complete sad sack".
Both Maddern and McGuire were quick to defend Newman.
"There's no denying it was a difficult night," Maddern said. "We all have off nights and last night Sam had an off night. He had a creative difference of opinion with us and that's fine, that's how you make good television."
But it was a quip from McGuire, who said Newman had "thrown himself on a grenade to make the show better", that will leave many wondering about the behind the scene machinations that saw Hutchison so swiftly shown the door.
Sources close to Hutchison said the sports broadcaster had for some time expected to be a casualty of any potential shake-up.
The Footy Show has been struggling in the ratings since early May, failing to reach an average audience of 200,000 in its home city.
Seven rival The Front Bar has been performing strongly in recent weeks, and on Thursday night pipped The Footy Show by just over 20,000 viewers.
Shortly after the show aired on Thursday night, the rumour mill began churning with stories that Newman would be ousted after his sulky performance frustrated panelists.
Footy Show sources said Newman has been "frustrated" in recent weeks because he believes he is being censored by Nine bosses and fellow panelists to make the show more family friendly.
The move back to The Footy Show will see McGuire go head-to-head against his radio co-host Mick Molloy on The Front Bar. The pair are firm friends off-air.
McGuire also confirmed he would continue his role on Foxtel's various football programs.
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