Seven postpones Australia’s Got Talent amid COVID-19 concerns
The forthcoming 2021 season of Australia’s Got Talent won’t go ahead as scheduled, with Seven announcing the production has been postponed to a date later in the year.
Seven was forced to make the decision due to Sydney’s COVID-19 restrictions making filming in front of a live studio impossible, with all production now halted after earlier reports suggested Seven had pushed the start date back a week in the hope of restrictions easing.
In a statement, a spokesperson from Seven told Mumbrella that postponing the series was “the responsible but tough call”, with a new production date yet to be determined.
“Due to the current COVID-19 restrictions in Sydney, we have decided to postpone production of the new season of AGT to a date to be determined.
“A studio audience is a vitally important part of this much-loved show, so we have made the responsible but tough call to not go ahead for now.”
The spokesperson thanked judges, including new international headliners Neil Patrick-Harris and Alesha Dixon, who were set to join Nova’s Kate Ritchie and returning judge Shane Jacobson on the show this year.
“A big thank you to our judges – Neil Patrick Harris, Kate Ritchie, Alesha Dixon and Shane Jacobson – and our host Ricki-Lee, and we hope to see you again soon.”
Patrick Harris recently completed his 14 days mandatory hotel quarantine period in Sydney with his twins, son Gideon Scott and daughter Harper Grace, during which he celebrated his 48th birthday.
The postponement is sure to leave a gap in Seven’s programming, and Mumbrella understands that additional episodes of Big Brother VIP and 7NEWS Spotlight will be produced to fill the hole.
Seven’s spokesperson added: “The postponement is disappointing, but there is a lot of great content to come on Seven across the rest of 2021, including Farmer Wants A Wife – which starts this Sunday – The Voice, SAS Australia, Big Brother VIP, more of our high-rating 7NEWS Spotlight specials, a special on William Tyrrell, the AFL Finals Series, Bathurst 1000 and, of course, the Tokyo Olympics.”
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Zanda Wilson was a reporter and podcast producer at Mumbrella, specialising in radio reporting. He left Mumbrella in September 2021.
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