0/5

Dave Hughes to depart The Project desk

"It's definitely a tough decision," says Hughesy as he quits to focus on his stand-up act.

2013-12-08_0410Comedian Dave Hughes will depart The Project fulltime to focus on his stand-up act.

He will be replaced by Peter Helliar.

‘Hughesy,’ who also quit his breakfast radio commitments, will still appear on the show regularly but is no longer part of the Charlie Pickering / Carrie Bickmore trio.

All three were Project originals, along with Ruby Rose and James Mathison, when the show first started on TEN five years ago. But the latter two did not survive.

“I’ve had the pleasure of filling in for Hughesy in 2013 and now, after getting over the disappointment of missing out on the So You Think You Can Dance Australia hosting gig, I’m incredibly proud to be joining Carrie and Charlie on The Project in 2014. I look forward to covering everything from Royal Commissions to Justin Bieber’s latest stripper/graffiti/pet-monkey adventures, often in the same show, sometimes in the same story,” he said.

“It’s been a tough decision to give up my regular seat on the desk next to Carrie, Charlie and every other brilliant person who works on the show. It was a unique way to do news when it started almost five years ago and it still is.

“I’m proud to have been involved from its birth. I’ve been banging on about doing a proper national stand-up tour for years and if I don’t do it now before my kids start school, I never will. I will still pop up on the show from the road on a weekly basis whether they like it or not. Good luck to Pete, even though he won’t need it, he has always been fantastic on the show.”

47 Responses

  1. I don’t think he’s funny at all, but I am still sad to see him go cos he has such a great rapport with the rest of the team. He’s been there from the beginning and I have to admit, I’ve grown fond of him over the years.

    Replacing him with Helliar is a massive mistake, though. This was their chance to replace Hughesy with someone funny! Tom Gleeson or Wil Anderson would’ve been awesome.

  2. @ryan The Project is the only current affairs show where there is a majority of males. Every other current affairs show in Australia now has a female host.
    I think Lemo would have been better then Peter Helliar. He doesn’t laugh at his own jokes like Hughesy or Helliar. Just another inhouse Rove appointment.

  3. I honestly don’t find Peter Heliar funny at all he’s always laughing at his own stuff or so called jokes… I used to like him on rove ages ago I dunno his style is not appealing anymore, I didn’t mind hughesy he was different. Charlie Pickering needs to stop being so serious also maybe it’s a about time the project gets a makeover.

  4. For god sake why Peter! Why not an intelligent female for the panel like Gretel Killeen or someone, I feel sorry for Carrie who has to sit between 3 guys sometimes.

  5. @trev – it’s lasted because there are a hell of a lot of us who like it!!

    Gee, the world would be boring if every single one of liked the same things!

    Just because you don’t like it, doesn’t make it a turkey!!

  6. Sad to see him go but glad to see he is only leaving so he can pursue what he started off doing and what he loves – stand up. His bits on Rove were brilliant at times so I can only imagine what a full 1 hour stand up performance would be like. I love The Project and am sure that swapping out Hughesy with Peter should be seamless. Will be interesting to see what is to come.

  7. With the nation’s unfunniest comedian gone, all that’s left are the nation’s worst anchorman and Australia’s worst newsreader.
    Cannot conceive how this turkey has lasted 5 years. It should have been axed over three years ago.

  8. @Catherine
    You’d imagine Hughesy would still on BTG. Maybe it will depend on Carlton’s fixture. I’d happily see Fitzy take over from Hughesy if needed. Or maybe adding Ang Pippos to the dynamic?

  9. I can take or leave Dave Hughes, so no great loss as far as I’m concerned. I quite like Peter Helliar, but I think Lehmo would have been a better choice.

  10. I hope Dave’s got something else for his sake…..Cause he is going to be a bit bored if he hasn’t. I can’t see anybody picking him up because he is just not that funny and very over exposed.

    Stand up combines with another radio network is his best option.

Leave a Reply