Wendy Moore on why the Selling Houses format continues to move from strength to strength
Foxtel Lifestyle’s best performing series, Selling Houses Australia (SHA) returns for its’ 14th season this week with two new hosts, breaking the show’s two-year hiatus after former hosts Charlie Albone and Shaynna Blaze departed the show in 2020.
The new Selling Houses Australian lineup features long time host Andrew Winter and new hosts Wendy Moore and Dennis Scott
In a vote of confidence in the successful format’s new presenters – GM of Foxtel Lifestyle and former House Rules judge for Channel Seven Wendy Moore and former NRL player Dennis Scott joining long-standing host Andrew Winter – the pay TV network has greenlighted the show’s 15th season before the 14th season has hit screens.
Speaking to Mumbrella, Moore said the early commissioning of the next season of Selling Houses will give the season a head start into production, after the show had to stop production in 2020.
“The format is strong and we’ve got such great fan base already,” said Moore.
“And I mean, it’s the number one show on Foxtel. So I think COVID really gave us a heads up that we don’t have time to wait. If we want to get behind something, we have to get behind it as soon as possible, because you know, we missed out on a whole year of Selling Houses production, and the earlier we start the less likely that is to happen.
“I think Andrew returning is just a real comfort blanket for our audience. We know how much they love him. So I think we’re putting faith in the strength of the format and the love for the format that the audience will come back.”
While Moore said that herself and Scott bring something new to the show, the format will remain the same, and that Foxtel had high expectations for the performance of the show.
“I wouldn’t be as bold as to say that we would do these amazing outperform of what we’ve done before, but we do have pretty high expectations for it to get the numbers that we’ve seen in the past.”
In terms of how the show will compare to competitors, Moore offered that Selling House’s biggest strength is in its positivity.
“It is about really real stories about people that are desperate to sell their house and need help. And I think that’s why the audience love it, and we saw that during COVID,” said Moore.
The upcoming 14th season of SHA will welcome new sponsor Wattyl paints, with Snooze bedding and furniture set to join the show officially for season 15.
Commenting on the news Marshall Heald, Foxtel’s executive director of entertainment said: “We’re delighted to commission a new season of Selling Houses Australia, our most successful Foxtel Original Lifestyle series which our audiences continue to love given our nations’ healthy obsession with property and its distinctive creative format.
“With its unique mix of ‘making the impossible, possible’ coupled with real estate guru Andrew Winter at the helm, we know the show will continue going from strength to strength with audiences about to also fall in love with Andrew’s new co-hosts Wendy and Dennis,” he said.
Caroline Swift, Warner Bros International Television Productions (WBITVP) head of entertainment added: “What an achievement to get to S15 of this brilliant format. Andrew, Wendy and Dennis will continue to deliver the best property and design advice in the business with their signature humour and warmth, tackling everything from a resort on Magnetic Island to an investment cottage in the hills of Tasmania.”
Selling in the City hosts, interior designer Rosie Morley and landscape expert Paddy Milne
As part of Foxtel Lifestyle’s biggest ever content slate for 2022, the network is also preparing for the upcoming launch of the first season of Selling in the City.
The original series is a spinoff from Selling Houses, and will feature new hosting duo interior designer Rosie Morley and landscape expert Paddy Milne.
“Selling Houses has been such a strong format for such a long time and we know it works. But rather than trying to get a younger or a different audience into selling houses we continue giving our audience the show that they love and then use that as a way to create something new,” said Moore.
“Selling in City is really targeting a younger audience that need their property to enable them to get their dream. It’s really for the older millennials that bought into the market and had to get a very small place or a very bland place and they want is a bigger place or a different change in their life.”
Moore explained that the new format will help these home owners to transform their homes into something that can leapfrog them into the next stage of home ownership.
“It’s much more urban, the places are smaller and it is less about the structure and more about the interior design.”
She added that the show will also appeal to younger millennials who will be inspired by what you can do with a smaller place, as well as renters, who will be able to apply the interior design ideas demonstrated in the show. This new audience will be important for advertisers, particularly off the back of research research conducted by Foxtel that showed renters are increasingly investing in their rental properties to make them feel like a home.
As to how she has been juggling her responsibilities between her role as GM of Lifestyle and host for Selling Houses Australia, Moore said that sometimes she is frowning and sometimes she is waving.
“I have a great team at lifestyle, some really really experienced staff and we’ve worked together for over three years now so we really know each other well. And working remotely is the norm now so I can join meetings from a building site and be just as present in a teams meeting as I would be if I was at home.”
“My family is amazing, my husband is amazing and he’s working part time now,” continued Moore. “And he’s a great cook.”
The big workload is sweetened by the fact that Moore thoroughly enjoys working with her new co-hosts, having known Winter for some time now, and also quickly becoming firm friends with Scott.
She noted that the team had a lot of time to bond during the Sydney lockdown when both Andrew and Dennis got stuck in Sydney. During that time, Moore and Scott would go for runs together, at least four times a week.
“You just get to know people and they become part of your life. We all know each others family and we actually have quite similar lives in a lot of ways and so we have really connected.”
Selling Houses Australia season 14 returns this Wednesday 30th of March, at 8:30pm on Foxtel Lifestyle or On Demand.
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Andrew Winter
Caroline Swift
Dennis Scott
Foxtel
Foxtel Lifestyle
Marshall Heald
Selling Houses Australia
Selling in the City
Warner Bros International Television Productions
Wendy Moore
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