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Carrie Bickmore has shared a heartfelt tribute to The Project after it was confirmed that the show would be axed after 16 years on air.
She was one of the original hosts of the Channel 10 news show when it first aired in 2009, alongside comedians Charlie Pickering and Dave Hughes.
After the news about its cancellation was announced on June 9, the radio host reflected on it on her Instagram stories.
There, she shared a quote host Waleed Aly made about how the show “kicked down the door of how news could be done”.
“It absolutely did,” Carrie wrote. “Such sad news today. Regardless of how you feel about the show (everyone seemed to have very strong opinions about it both ways), it changed the way news was delivered, and I am so proud of what the show and everyone involved in making it achieved.
“You’ve never met a more passionate, engaged bunch.”
She then spoke more about her time on the show, and the challenges creating a show that blended comedy with news, which was breaking new ground at the time.
“We were trying to do something so different: comedy mixed with news,” she explained on her radio show Carrie and Tommy.
“When you’re making those kinds of shows – night after night – it’s so hard to explain how hard it is to get a show up like that – that’s trying to do things differently and reinvent itself every single day. It requires such passion and dedication from the people who work there; you can’t phone it in. It’s a hard slog.”
The former host said she was “sad” that it was over, and The Project had lots of loyal viewers.
“I don’t want people to feel alone – and that’s the power of TV and free-to-air TV,” she said. “It’s a thing that’s dying. But we should be proud, 16 years of a live six-night-a-week TV show is phenomenal. I’m thinking of everyone there today.”
During her time on The Project, Carrie won a Gold Logie, where she delivered an impassioned speech raising awareness for brain cancer after she lost her first husband, Greg Lange, to the disease. From that speech, she then launched her charity Beanies 4 Brain Cancer.
She also won Logie Awards for the Most Popular Presenter and Most Popular New Female Talent.
Carrie left the show in 2022 but returned as a guest in May 2025. During her comeback, she revealed that Beanies 4 Brain Cancer has raised almost $25 million since it was founded.
What have the other original hosts said about the cancellation of The Project?
On Instagram, Dave reflected on the announcement and said it was a joy to be a part of. He explained that it started out as a 30-minute program before it went for an hour.
“Well done to everyone involved to everyone over those 16 years,” he said.
“It’s going to leave a big, big hole in the Australian TV landscape, I don’t know what’s going to fill it, because it was one of a kind, it’s different to anything that’s been put on air…. It deserves to be celebrated.”
With the final episode due to air on June 27, the I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! star said he would be happy to join the panel in the coming weeks to celebrate its success.
At the time of publication, Charlie Pickering has not said anything but shared guest Marc Fennell’s post to his Instagram stories.
“It’s a sad day to see it go,” Marc’s post said. “You’ve never met a harder-working, creative bunch who really did reinvent the space and totally deserve credit for delivering news differently. Kudos to the whole team & farewell. You’ve left an incredible mark on TV that you should be rightly proud of.”
Other regulars, such as Peter Helliar and Steve Price, have also weighed in.
“What an amazing legacy that show has, I think, 16 years, as you guys know, very few shows get to the second season of the show,” Peter said on Nova 100’s Jase & Lauren. He was a part of the show between 2014 and 2022.
“This was like, I think, the little engine that could, you know, that show was in its first year, it was going to get sacked every second week, you know. And 16 years later, to see that the people have become household names who have gone through that show, and fresh, new faces and legends who have gone through that show.”
Steve, who was a regular since 2010, wrote about his experiences in a column for the Herald Sun.
“The Project was the best-resourced media show I have ever worked on. Behind the scenes was a gifted, hardworking crew of young producers, comedy writers, editors, journalists, camera operators, make-up artists, and wardrobe assistants,” he wrote.
“Most if not all these talented crew are now out of work as the replacement show moves to Sydney.”
