Paul ‘Fatty’ Vautin may be back to host the struggling NRL Footy Show while Erin Molan takes time off to give birth to her first child.
Channel Nine producers are said to want Vautin back in June, but fear he might turn down an offer after he was sacked while on holiday with his family in the U.S. last year.
‘It would take some ego massaging,’ a network insider told The Daily Telegraph.
Erin Molan (pictured) will be taking time off in June when she gives birth to her first child
Paul ‘Fatty’ Vautin (pictured) may be back to host The Footy Show while Molan is on maternity leave
Erin Molan (left) and Paul ‘Fatty’ Vautin (right) pictured on The Footy Show
Pictured Erin Molan, Beau Ryan, Paul Vautin and Darryl Brohman on The Footy Show
Molan revealed her baby is due around the first State of Origin game in June.
She is unsure on how long she will be on maternity leave, saying it all depends on how she and the baby are doing.
‘I’ve been thinking four to six weeks but it just depends how bubba is and how I am,’ she told the paper.
‘I have no idea what to expect. Whether the baby will settle, and feed and sleep. All that stuff.’
Vautin was host of the longstanding program for 23 years before he was dumped last October.
‘In the end nothing lasts forever,’ Vautin wrote to WSFM’s Brendan Jones at the time.
‘I had a great run, especially for a short, chubby, red-head who played for both Manly and Queensland.
‘That’s not a career, that’s a miracle.’
Vautin was host of The Footy Show for 23 years before he was dumped in November last year and it was announced that Molan would be the new host
Since Molan replaced Vautin, The Footy Show, which has been been running since 1994, has been averaging just 82,000 viewers in early March
The show’s revamp has struggled to win the support of viewers since Molan took over
Since Molan replaced Vautin, The Footy Show has seen a steady decline in TV ratings.
The show’s revamp has struggled to win the support of viewers, with many asking to bring Vautin back.
The new Footy Show hosts include Molan, Andrew Johns, and Ryan Girdler, with Beau Ryan and Darryl Brohman making appearances.