Looks like we’ll be rewatching Tiger King a few times as a number of local TV favourites have been put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic.
WATCH: Locky Gilbert speaks about the size of his manhood with Jackie O
Just hours after Nine confirmed it was pausing production on its home renovation show The Block due to travel restrictions, Ten announced it had made the decision to halt production of Locky Gilbert’s season of The Bachelor until it is safe to continue.
“The health and safety of our participants and crew members is our number one priority,” a Ten spokesperson said.
“These are extremely difficult times for all Australians and for our industry, and the full extent of those difficulties will not be known for some time to come.
“Our decision to halt production was made after considering all available options. We will resume production when it is safe to do so.”
However, Ten’s head of entertainment, Stephen Tate, also said that contestants would continue to go on ‘virtual dates’ with leading man Locky.
The cast and crew left the mansion in the early hours of Friday morning, but it’s hoped steps are being taken to make sure the girls maintain their connections with Locky.
Tate said the wider narrative of the coronavirus pandemic will ‘form part of the story’ of The Bachelor’s eighth season.
“We’ve got a good amount of the series in the can, we’re about a third of the way in, which buys us a lot of time,” he said.
‘We’re going to embrace what’s happening to all of us here in Australia. It will form part of the story, and we think we’ll be able to deliver probably the most extraordinary series ever.’
The Bachelor has been a strong performer for Ten, last year attracting 1.17 million metro viewers for its season finale.
Nine’s The Block has also been a success. Last year’s finale, which was split into two segments, attracted an audience of just under two million, including the Winner Announced segment which had 1.92 million metro viewers.
Filming for the current season, which is scheduled to air later this year, will resume once the shutdown period ends.
Speaking with the Herald Sun, show creator Julian Cress, said they decided to “stop filming with the contestants and stop the competition temporarily so we could get out ahead of (any) looming shutdown of state borders and a potential full lockdown of the state”.
“(We wanted) to get the contestants home to their families, as they live all around the country and are away from their children,” he said.
He added that the “potential for them to be locked down in Melbourne was too much of a risk.”
While the show may be shut down, the actual construction site continues to operate, We’re still operating the building site for as long as we possibly can (to keep) our tradies employed so they can continue to feed their families,” Julian said.
A string of shows have been impacted by the coronavirus, including Neighbours, SAS: Who Dares Wins and Back to the Rafters, as well as Ten’s Australian Survivor.
The worst news thought, surely, is that Bachelor in Paradise’s April premiere date has been moved and it is now set to in “the coming months”.
Ten told TV Tonight, “Do not panic. You will still get to see your favourite bachelorettes and bachelors when they return to paradise for romance, scandal, betrayal and – for three couples – true love.”
“Bachelor In Paradise has wrapped production and will air in the coming months.”
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