The Living Room is an Australian lifestyle program. The show is hosted by Amanda Keller with co-presenters Barry Du Bois, Chris Brown, and Miguel Maestre. The program began airing on Network Ten on 11 May 2012,[1] and aired at 7:30 pm on Fridays. It is a quadruple award-winner of the Logie Award for Most Popular Lifestyle Program, winning it in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
| The Living Room | |
|---|---|
 The revamped logo of The Living Room, which has been in use since May 2020. | |
| Genre | Lifestyle |
| Developed by | Caroline Swift |
| Directed by | Jon Olb Brent Ferguson Kate Douglas-Walker Adam Kotcharian |
| Presented by | Amanda Keller |
| Starring | Barry Du Bois Chris Brown Miguel Maestre |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 10 |
| No. of episodes | 367 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producers |
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| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 45 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | Network Ten |
| Release | 11 May 2012 – 25 November 2022 |
On 30 November 2019, the program was temporarily axed by Network Ten after 8 seasons, due to cost-cutting measures;[2] however a Christmas special aired on 20 December 2019.[3] On 7 March 2020, it was announced that The Living Room, now produced in-house by Network Ten Studios,[4] had been renewed and it returned on 3 July 2020.[5]
In October 2022, Ten announced that the program would take a break in 2023 and be "rested".[6] Although initially slated to return with the original cast, after Brown signed with the Seven Network in February 2023, in July 2023 Keller stated that she believed the decision was "a death knell" for the show.[7] The show was absent at Ten's upfronts for 2024.[8]
Format
editThe show delves into a range of lifestyle topics including renovations, travel and pet advice and cooking. From 2012 to 2019 the show featured the team presenting stories in front of a studio audience of around 60 people, with a mixture of live and pre-recorded content presented. The studio segments were filmed at Network Ten Studios in Pyrmont, a suburb in Sydney's inner-city.
The show shifted format in 2020, focussing on helping a family each episode instead of featuring several unrelated lifestyle segments. The 2020 season features a "home base" filmed in a converted warehouse in Newtown, and also axed the studio audience.[9]
Episodes
editSeries overview
edit| Series | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||
| 1 | 30 | 11 May 2012 | 30 November 2012 | |
| 2 | 40 | 15 February 2013 | 29 November 2013 | |
| 3 | 40 | 14 February 2014 | 28 November 2014 | |
| 4 | 42 | 13 February 2015 | 27 November 2015 | |
| 5 | 42 | 12 February 2016 | 25 November 2016 | |
| 6 | 43 | 10 February 2017 | 1 December 2017 | |
| 7 | 43 | 9 February 2018 | 30 November 2018 | |
| 8 | 40 | 29 March 2019 | 20 December 2019 | |
| 9 | 25 | 3 July 2020 | 18 December 2020 | |
| 10 | 30 | 26 March 2021 | 10 September 2021 | |
| Special | 20 December 2019 | 24 December 2020 | ||
| 11 | 30 | 8 April 2022 | 25 November 2022 | |
Presenters
edit| Presenters | Role / Expertise | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Amanda Keller | Host | 2012—2022 |
| Barry Du Bois | Renovations | 2012—2022 |
| Chris Brown | Travel and Pets | 2012—2022 |
| Miguel Maestre | Cooking | 2012—2022 |
Others
edit| Visiting experts | Expertise | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Dylan Falecki | Project Manager | 2012–2019 |
| James Treble | Homes Design | 2012–2019 |
| Cherie Barber | Renovating For Profit | 2012–2019 |
| Andrew Rochford | Health | 2013 |
| Lilly Van Epen | Gardening | 2013 |
| Jason Cunnigham | Finance | 2013–2019 |
| Peter Walsh | Home organizing | 2013–2022 |
| Leanne Hall | Mind and Body | 2014–2019 |
| Fabian Capomolla | Vegetable gardening | 2014 |
| Mat Pember | Vegetable gardening | 2014 |
| Jamie Durie | Gardening & Landscaping | 2015–2018 |
| Tiffiny Hall | Health & Wellness | 2015–2018 |
| Kyal and Kara Demmerich | Design and Renovation | 2017–2019 |
| Matt Leacy | Landscaping & Horticulture | 2019—2022 |
Stand-in co-hosts
editChris Brown
editWhile Chris Brown is away in Kruger National Park, South Africa, co-hosting the show I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! with Julia Morris, his stand-in co-hosts for The Living Room during that period have been chosen from 'turn-of-the-wheel' spins by Amanda. These stand-in co-hosts have included:
2015
edit- Tim Robards – TV reality star from The Bachelor Australia
- Grant Denyer – host of Family Feud
- Brendan Jones – Amanda's radio co-host
- Shane Jacobson – Australian actor and former co-host of Top Gear
- Colin and Justin – Interior decorators and Scottish TV presenters
- Ben Mingay – Wonderland actor
- Scott Tweedie – The Loop co-host
2016
edit- Jamie Durie – TV presenter, landscaper and horticulturalist
- Kris Smith – TV personality and model who later became a contestant on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!
2017
edit- Shannan Ponton – Personal trainer for contestants on The Biggest Loser
2018
edit- Jamie Durie – TV presenter, landscaper and horticulturalist
- Matty Johnson – TV reality star from The Bachelor Australia
- Kris Smith – TV personality and model
2019
editThere were no 'stand-in co-hosts' for Chris Brown during the beginning of 2019 because The Living Room began airing later in the year because the majority of the co-hosts had other commitments. Brown was instead absent from the filming of two episodes as he was on an Antarctic expedition on Aurora Expeditions, with Greg Mortimer.
2020
editThere were no 'stand-in co-hosts' for Brown in 2020 as the program did not commence airing until July of that year due to the majority of co-hosts having other commitments and negotiations between WTFN Entertainment and Network Ten on the show's rights.
Barry Du Bois
editWhile Barry Du Bois was away for cancer treatment in 2018, Amanda personally looked for stand-in co-hosts for him.
- Grant Denyer – host of Family Feud
Awards and nominations
edit| Year | Nominee | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | The Living Room | Most Popular Lifestyle Program | Nominated |
| 2014 | The Living Room | Most Popular Lifestyle Program | Nominated |
| 2015 | Amanda Keller | Most Popular Presenter | Nominated |
| The Living Room | Most Popular Lifestyle Program | Won | |
| 2016 | Amanda Keller | Most Popular Presenter | Nominated |
| 2016 | The Living Room | Most Popular Lifestyle Program | Won |
| 2017 | The Living Room | Best Lifestyle Program | Won |
| 2018 | Amanda Keller | Gold Logie | Nominated |
| The Living Room | Best Lifestyle Program | Won | |
| Matty Johnson | Most Popular New Talent | Nominated | |
| 2019 | Amanda Keller | Gold Logie | Nominated |
| The Living Room | Best Lifestyle Program | Nominated |
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ Knox, David (27 February 2020). "TEN confirms The Living Room". TV Tonight. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
- ^ Knox, David (30 November 2019). "Axed: The Living Room". TV Tonight. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ Knox, David (3 December 2019). "What's up with The Living Room?". TV Tonight. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
- ^ Knox, David (7 March 2020). "Renewed: Producers, 10, reach settlement over The Living Room". TV Tonight. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
- ^ "The Living Room — The Fab Four Are Back". 10 Play. Network Ten. 12 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
- ^ Knox, David (6 October 2022). "10 resting The Living Room in 2023". TV Tonight. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
- ^ Knox, David (10 July 2023). "Amanda Keller: "Two Logies ago, I was nominated for Gold … I'm not invited this year"". TV Tonight. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
- ^ Knox, David (24 October 2023). "2024 Upfronts: 10 / Paramount+". TV Tonight. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
- ^ Knox, David (1 July 2020). "When The Living Room meets Queer Eye". TV Tonight. Retrieved 1 July 2020.