Fifi Box & Jules Lund replace Hamish & Andy in 2011

22 November 2010

by Jason Treuen

With their full time duties as Today network’s Drive hosts finishing in a fortnight, Hamish & Andy have announced their successors for next year's Monday to Thursday slot.

Austereo veteran Fifi Box and Getaway TV host Jules Lund will host the coveted 4-6pm slot four days a week, with Hamish & Andy staying on to do Fridays for the next two years.

Byron Cooke will move over from sister station Triple M to anchor the show.

Both Box and Lund have close connections with Hamish & Andy, with the latter both appearing on Box’s current Today Network national show on Saturday mornings in the past. Lund has been a regular guest on the Hamish & Andy Show in addition to appearing on Box’s show.

“We think Fifi and Jules are going to work very well together,” Austereo CEO Guy Dobson told The Music Network. “The chemistry’s definitely there and we believe we’ve got an entertaining alternative drive show for the future.

“We’re very proud to still have Hamish & Andy live on Fridays and to be integrating a show into Drive for the other four days that’s all part of that extended Hamish and Andy family.”

Box, who also works as the entertainment reporter for Channel Seven’s Sunrise program, will move down to Melbourne for the new Drive role and is expected to downsize her TV commitments to work on the daily radio show.

“Nothing beats a show made in Melbourne. It always rates well,” he adds.

According to Dobson, the company “left no stone unturned” when it came to searching for the right fit, but it was the team of Box and Lund that ticked all the boxes.

“We had a list of criteria we had to tick and this was certainly the show that jumped off the page,” he said. “They’re both incredible, talented performers. When Jules has turned up on Fifi’s show on the weekend, you could hear the chemistry.

“Both fit in the target and we have a complimentary station with Triple M which will also have a new Drive show next year. We just wanted to make all of our jigsaw puzzles fit together.”

They also didn’t want a “direct, comparative” new show too similar to Hamish & Andy. “We’ve learnt from our mistakes so we’re doing something slightly different,” he added.

With Hamish and Andy wrapping up their full time gig on Friday December 3, Dobson is also quick to stress that today isn't a sad day. He's just rapt to have the duo return on Fridays next year.

"It’d a very sad day if they weren’t on our airwaves, but [that’s not the case]. I think a lot of the press, certainly in the trade mags, have forgotten that Hamish and Andy are still doing one day a week on the Today network," he said. "Whatever way, shape or form the show takes next year is going to work incredibly for us as a network. We get to mould that show into the working week as well, plus we have Hamish & Andy Gold and replays to work with as the year goes on.

"Hamish & Andy are an integral part of the Today FM brand and they will continue to be so for the next two years. This is a new show. We love creating new show, we love finding new talent and we think we’re pretty good at it. It’s a very exciting day for us today, not a sad one at all."

The announcement ends months of industry speculation, which started as soon as Hamish and Andy announced their move back in August. Since then, everyone from 92.9’s Sam Mac to comedian/former Triple M Drive host Wil Anderson to Triple J’s Tom & Alex have been tipped as possible replacements.