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Paul 'Fatty' Vautin reportedly axed from Nine's Footy Show

17th October, 2017
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Sydney, May 17, 2005. Peter 'Sterlo' Sterling and Paul 'Fatty' Vautin at the launch of '25 years of Origin Sports Greatest Rivalry' book a detailed history of State of Origins first quarter century. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
17th October, 2017
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Well known Channel Nine personality and former rugby league player Paul Vautin has been sacked from the NRL Footy Show according to a News Limited report.

There was speculation the show had been axed completely after falling ratings but it appears Erin Molan will step into ‘Fatty’s’ role in a brand new format.

It’s expected Vautin will stay on for match commentary during the season as he has another year left on his contract.

Nine confirmed four days ago that the show was to be revamped but didn’t mention that would include cutting the show’s host of 24 years.

“Nine will be broadcasting 23 Thursday night NRL games in 2018 and so the NRL Footy Show will have a new look and feel to reflect the games the audience have just enjoyed watching,” Nine said in a statement.

“The exact format of The Footy Show and appearing talent is still to be determined.”

Nine’s apparent push to promote Molan comes after the network lost another talented female presenter, Yvonne Sampson, to Fox Sports.

However, the network did manage to recently poach Peter Sterling from Fox in an exclusive contract.

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It’s yet to be confirmed which on-air talent will join Molan on the 2018 Footy Show but the new format will most definitely tie into Nine’s Thursday night football coverage, as well as a bonus Monday night show, which is rumoured to be similar to the AFL’s version of Footy Classified.

The Sunday Footy Show will remain unchanged.

The NRL Footy Show was once a ‘must see’ event on Channel Nine – even for non-rugby league lovers – but the ratings have slipped from a reported 370,000 a week to as low as 80,000.

It has won 11 Logies.

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