The Circle

Press Release. Network Ten today announced changes to the morning program line-up on TEN as a result of the network axing The Circle.

From Monday, August 6, TEN will add four new programs:

• The Talk: A weekday talk show that offers a female perspective on the day’s headlines. Created and hosted by Sara Gilbert, The Talk has become one of the fastest-growing talk shows on daytime television in the United States since its launch in 2010. Continue reading »

She just couldn’t keep away! Our beloved Denise Drysdale makes a welcome (albeit temporary) return to the couch next Monday, July 30, to catch up with her Circle sisters.

Also next week, Missy Higgins performs and speaks about the inspiration for her new album; Jessica Mauboy and Debra Mailman, fresh from the Cannes Film Festival, talk about their new Aussie film The Sapphires; and author of the Sookie Stackhouse vampire books that gave birth to cult television-hit True Blood, Charlaine Harris, visits The Circle. Plus, Rob Mills, Tim Rogers and Rhonda Burchmore!

Starting Monday July 23rd, The Circle has a big week of guests.

We have MasterChef Australia fever next week, with each contestant chatting to the girls after their exit from the show. The winner will make an appearance on Thursday, July 26. Continue reading »

TEN is thrilled to welcome back the inimitable Chrissie Swan with a new prime-time gig as host of Can of Worms, the show that gets the nation talking and isn’t afraid to tackle the tough issues. Continue reading »

The Bolt Report – Sunday, 10.00am and replayed at 4.30pm
This week on The Bolt Report, Andrew will be speaking to Nationals Leader Warren Truss and former Queensland Premier Peter Beattie about the Queensland election. Guests on the panel this week are former Liberal Senator Nick Minchin and NSW Labor MP Kristina Keneally.

Meet the Press – Sunday, 10.30am
Joining Paul Bongiorno on Meet the Press this Sunday will be Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese and Greens Senator Richard Di Natalie. This week’s panelists are Patricia Karvelas from The Australian and Steve Lewis from News Limited.

The Circle Highlights show – Sunday, 11.00am.
Joining us on the couch is Canadian comedian and actor Tom Green while singer Pete Murray shares his moving story behind his latest EP. We help a die-hard Lenny Kravitz fan realise her dream to see him perform live and Circle regular Meshel Laurie chats about losing her locks to raise cash for leukaemia research.

Victoria Cross recipient Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith has accepted apologies from presenters of the Ten Network program The Circle after he was referred to as brainless and a “dud root”.

Corporal Roberts-Smith says he was initially a little surprised at the comments but understood they were not meant to be malicious.

He had read statements from presenters Yumi Stynes and George Negus, and both had since contacted him to apologise for any offence.

“I would like to thank the Australian public and the Australian Defence Force personnel for their overwhelming support – my wife and I were extremely touched by the outpouring of support and concern,” Corporal Roberts-Smith said in a statement.

“I have now put this matter behind me so I can focus on serving my country.”

Defence Minister Stephen Smith said such comments, directed at anyone, were reprehensible.

“Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith has received the appropriate apologies, as he should have. He has accepted them, which is the measure of the man and his family,” he said.

Labor parliamentary secretary for defence David Feeney noted the corporal was the recipient of Australia’s highest award for gallantry.

“These people are not an appropriate target for the sort of conversation that we saw on that program,” he said.

Corporal Roberts-Smith was awarded the VC for braving machine-gun fire to attack an enemy position in Afghanistan in 2010. He is only the second Australian VC recipient since the Vietnam war.

The offending remarks followed his appearance on the Seven Network on Sunday when he admitted his twin daughters were conceived by IVF treatment.

Viewing a photo of the Corporal Roberts-Smith standing up to his hips in a swimming pool, Ms Stynes remarked: “He’s going to dive down to the bottom of the pool to see if his brain is there.”

Mr Negus then quipped: “I’m sure he’s a really good guy. Nothing about poor old Ben, but that sort of bloke … and what if they’re not up to it in the sack?”

That prompted a query from another panellist: “Are you intimating, George Negus, that he could be a dud root?”

From the video, it’s unclear who made the offending comment, although it sparked much laughter.

But viewers were outraged and the program’s Facebook page was deluged with criticism.

“YOU DISGUSTING human being Yumi, how dare you say what you did about an Aussie HERO. HOW DARE YOU,” one viewer wrote.

“Worthless media grubs. Wake up to yourselves, you do nothing but talk crap in front of a camera,” said another.

Shows you the reason why we all love this man and why The Circle is a ratings loser.

Ten apologised, issuing a statement on behalf of Negus saying his remark was a tongue-in-cheek quip about men with good bodies.

“In no way was it meant to be a comment or a reflection on Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith, directly or otherwise,” Negus said.

“However, if my comment has unintentionally offended Ben, his family, or his ADF/SAS colleagues, obviously I am sorry.”

This morning on The Circle they confronted the issue and Yumi said that “Robert Smiths people were really adult” and that The Circle want to move on. I agree, but “really adult” – umm yeah putting your life on the line every day can do that to you!

Source – Daily Telegraph

The co-host of Channel Ten program The Circle has publicly apologised for making a sexist and disrespectful comment about Victoria Cross winner Ben Roberts-Smith, saying she had never met the Australian war hero and ‘‘felt sick’’ at the angry backlash she had received after branding him brainless.

Yumi Stynes admitted she did not know much about Corporal Roberts-Smith when she commented on a photograph of the shirtless war hero in a swimming pool yesterday, saying: ‘‘He’s going to dive down to the bottom of the pool to see if his brain is there’’.

Stynes’ guest co-host and veteran journalist George Negus had then quipped: “I’m sure he’s a really good guy, nothing about poor old Ben. But that sort of bloke, and what if they’re not up to it in the sack?”

Another host questioned whether Negus was suggesting “that he could be a dud root?”, to laughter from the audience.

But their flippant treatment of Corporal Roberts-Smith – who single-handedly stormed an enemy machine gun position in Afghanistan in 2010 – angered relatives of decorated war veterans as well as viewers, who flooded the television show’s Facebook page with furious comments.

The show’s treatment of Corporal Roberts-Smith also came under fire after the soldier revealed in a candid interview on Channel Seven’s Sunday Night that he and his wife had conceived their twin daughters through IVF treatment.

Stynes said on air today that she did not know much about Corporal Roberts-Smith or the Australian Defence Force, and merely saw a ‘‘very handsome guy’’.

‘‘So I made a joke, because how could anybody possibly be so perfect?,’’ Stymes said.

‘‘What I didn’t estimate was how much my joke was not appreciated. I sort of intimated that maybe he wasn’t very smart, because how could you be that buff and spend that much time in a gym and be smart as well? And people have been a bit angry and I’ve been getting a lot of angry messages.

‘‘And I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to offend anybody and I have total respect for people that work in the the defence forces, and I’ve never met Ben but I’m sure he’s lovely and he does seem like a big family man.’’

The former Channel [V] host said she felt sick after the backlash, and that ‘‘I think most people know that I’m good-hearted’’.

Network Ten also released a statement late this morning apologising for the comments.

‘‘We recognise he is a highly decorated soldier, national hero and we have the utmost respect for him,’’ the statement said.

‘‘We are sorry for any offence this may have caused him and sincerely echo today’s apology by The Circle.’’

The Circle’s Facebook page was flooded with angry comments, while a relative of another decorated war veteran contacted The Age to call for the Stynes and Negus to be sacked.

‘‘Their comments are disgusting, bird-brained, and an insult to the ADF,’’ said Frances Butcher.

‘‘As the great niece of Captain George Milne, awarded a Military Cross for his bravery in France in 1918, I advocate that all involved in the shameless performance be made to give a proper apology – as well as being dismissed.’’

One viewer on The Circle’s Facebook page wrote: “Shame shame shame you idiots its disgusting.

‘‘My neighbor is a ww2 vetran at kokoda you have tarnished the whole aussie defence force , IDIOTS.”

Another said he could not “believe they would speak so trashy about a guy who would do anything for our country”.

One viewer complained: “An Australian who has been honoured as a V.C. recipient deserves all the accolades we can lavish on him – He’s the epitome of a great Aussie bloke! What a disgusting comment by this bird brain ’Yumi’ Who is she?? and even more surprising and disappointing is the derogatory comment from George Negus – A journalist I’ve had great respect for in the past.”

Some called for Yumi to be sacked from the show, however others claimed that the comments were light-hearted and people had overreacted.

“Where’s your Australian sense of humor! I guarantee he [Corporal Roberts-Smith] wasn’t even offended! (unless of course what she said is actually true!),” wrote one woman.

In response to the backlash, The Circle posted an apology on its Facebook page late yesterday to anyone who had been offended.

“Gotta love live T.V.!,” the apology read.

“What started out as an innocent admiration of one of Australia’s heroes today unfortunately ended up changing direction.

“I hope you all know us well enough by now to know that we would never set out to upset anyone. Your feedback is very important to us and we appreciate your input on a daily basis.”

“So sorry if we offended any of you today.”

The Age has contacted Negus for comment.

Corporal Roberts-Smith was awarded the VC for extraordinary heroism in bitter fighting as members of the Special Operations Task Group assaulted a Taliban stronghold in Kandahar Province on June 11, 2010.

At great risk to himself, Corporal Roberts-Smith drew fire away from his fellow Diggers by making himself an easy shot before single-handedly silencing two Taliban machinegun posts.

That enabled his unit to go on and clear a village of Taliban.

Source The Age

The Bolt Report – Sunday, 10.00am
This week on The Bolt Report, Andrew will be speaking to Labor Parliamentary Secretary Richard Marles and Labor Strategist Bruce Hawker on the ALP leadership issue. Guests on the panel this week are Former Liberal Senator Nick Minchin and Federal Labor MP Michael Danby.

Meet the Press – Sunday, 10.30am
Joining Hugh Riminton on Meet the Press this Sunday will be Treasurer and Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan and Qld LNP leader Campbell Newman. This week’s panelists are Dennis Atkins from The Courier Mail and Karen Middleton from SBS.

The Circle Highlights show – Sunday, 11.00am.
Featuring Jason Priestley, Ellen Burstyn, British standup comedian Paul Foot and another Circle viewer ticks off their Bucket List.

The historic victory of 2011 Tour de France winner Cadel Evans will be celebrated tomorrow in a special extended episode of The Circle.  

Joining Gorgi Coghlan and Yumi Stynes from 12noon will be TEN sports presenter Stephen Quartermain and cycling hero Phil Anderson.  

They’ll cross live to the celebrations at Federation Square where TEN news reporter Ian Cohen and Before the Game’s Samantha Lane will report, welcoming home Victoria’s own Cadel Evans.

Friday 12 August

10.00am – The Circle, with Gorgi Coghlan, Yumi Stynes, Jane Kennedy and psychic medium John Edwards

12.00pm – The Circle welcomes home Cadel with Gorgi Coghlan, Yumi Stynes, Stephen Quartermain and Phil Anderson

Several unlikely Gold Logie nominations have led to questions being asked over the 2011 Logie Awards voting.

The three nominations of The Circle co-host Chrissie Swan for the Gold Logie, Silver Logie for most popular presenter and most popular new talent was the big surprise following the announcement yesterday for the May 1 awards.

Other surprises include the nominations of Asher Keddie and Karl Stefanovic for the top award and the one single nomination for ratings juggernaut MasterChef for most popular reality programme.

Swan’s nomination is being questioned given she is one of four co-hosts of The Circle, a show that draws around 70,000 viewers on average per day.

Packed to the Rafters has proved the biggest hit with fans, pulling 15 nominations in total, including Gold Logie nods for Jessica Marais and 2009 winner Rebecca Gibney.

Votes were cast this year by TV Week readers in both print and online mediums and are officially audited.

Source: News.com.au