Prior to taking his place in the African jungle, the sports star was in the midst of negotiations to take on the sports presenter role on the Today show.
“That’s why they have Tony Jones in now,” says the source. “He is just keeping Shane’s seat warm.”
Having previously worked for Nine Network, the father of four was keen to get stuck into the new position, but had already signed up for Network Ten’s reality series, which meant he had to keep the news hush-hush.
“Nine just figured it would be a good opportunity to see how he went with a wider audience and let their rivals spend all their time making him a household name,” says the spy. “It’s worked out well for them.”
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