With her crime show Under Investigation likely not returning to screens in 2025, next year could finally see Liz Hayes closing the book on her Channel Nine tenure.
Liz, 68, has been with Nine for more than 40 years. It’s currently a period of great upheaval for the network, with new boss Matt Stanton announcing cuts of up to $50 million before July 2025. Amid this, New Idea has learned that Liz might be devising an exit strategy that eventually sees her landing at Network 10.
“There has been a lot of talk about what Liz is planning to do,” says a well-placed TV insider.
“Word is, she could go back to her old stomping grounds at Ten, where she started out way back when.”
For weeks, rumours have swirled that Under Investigation, Liz’s main show at Nine, might be getting axed. At the network’s 2025 content unveiling event last week, the series was not included in the list of returning shows. Its absence renewed the speculation it’s getting dropped or ‘being rested’.
With Nine veterans like publicity boss Victoria Buchan already being shown the door, insiders say Under Investigation’s apparent demise after just four years would send a chilling message to all on-air talent.
“If that’s what they feel comfortable doing to Liz Hayes’ show, then nothing is out of bounds,” one network source told Daily Mail Australia in August.
“To even consider killing off her show is just brutal. It means absolutely no one and nothing is safe.”
At last week’s presentation, Nine confirmed that Liz will still be anchoring 60 Minutes in the new year. She will also lead Nine’s coverage of the upcoming US Presidential Election alongside Karl Stefanovic.
Sources say Liz continuing on with 60 Minutes should “be interesting”. She was apparently annoyed when producers tapped Tracy Grimshaw to do the program’s recent sit-down with Elle Macpherson.
Relations between Liz and Tracy are said to have soured over the controversial interview.
“They are good friends. Tracy would have definitely spoken to Liz about the Elle interview and she would have given her blessing,” says a source.
But privately, Liz is said to have been furious that the former A Current Affair host stepped in on her territory. Tellingly, Liz didn’t defend Tracy after the interview was slammed for Elle’s polarising comments about her cancer treatment.
If Liz does eventually decide to move across to Network 10, she could enlist help from several former Nine colleagues who have already moved across.
Newsreader Sharyn Ghidella made the switch in September, while Liz is also close to former The Project co-host Lisa Wilkinson. Their friendship goes back many years, with Liz even playing cupid for Lisa and her husband, Peter FitzSimons.
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