Lisa Wilkinson ‘next to leave’ The Project following Carrie Bickmore’s shock on-air resignation

Lisa Wilkinson will be next to depart The Project following Carrie Bickmore’s resignation, a TV insider has claimed.

Bickmore, 41, shocked viewers on Tuesday night as she tearfully announced she was quitting the Channel 10 show after 13 years.

Tweeting hours later, veteran entertainment reporter Peter Ford speculated Bickmore’s departure won’t be the last major shake-up on The Project’s panel. 

‘It’s an odd show,’ Ford tweeted, adding: ‘I’m tipping Lisa [Wilkinson] won’t be there next year so it’s quite a seismic shift.’ 

In another tweet, Ford insisted The Project’s producers had ‘lost their biggest asset’ in Bickmore, adding: ‘Nobody is indispensable but there are some people easier to lose than others.’

It comes after Wilkinson, 62, was taken off air following her acceptance speech at the Logie Awards last month in which she spoke of an upcoming court case.

Bickmore, 41, shocked viewers on Tuesday night as she tearfully announced she was quitting the Channel 10 show after 13 years 

Shortly after Bickmore’s announcement, Ford tweeted: ‘It’s an odd show. I’m tipping Lisa [Wilkinson] won’t be there next year so it’s quite a seismic shift’

In another tweet, Ford insisted The Project’s producers had ‘lost their biggest asset’ following Bickmore’s announcement, adding: ‘Nobody is indispensable but there are some people easier to lose than others’  

Wilkinson joined The Project in late 2017 following a decade-long stint co-hosting Nine’s Today Show alongside Karl Stefanovic. 

Wilkinson reportedly secured a million-dollar salary to front The Sunday Project and helm Ten Daily for Channel 10.  

At the time, The Daily Telegraph claimed Wilkinson was pocketing an enormous $1.7million per year while Bickmore was believed to be on $1.5million.

Wilkinson joined The Project in late 2017 following a decade-long stint co-hosting Nine’s Today Show alongside Karl Stefanovic (right) 

At the time, The Daily Telegraph claimed Wilkinson was pocketing an enormous $1.7million per year while Bickmore was believed to be on $1.5million 

The disparity between the two pay packets has been rumoured to have caused some friction, especially as Wilkinson has far less screen time than Bickmore. Pictured L-R: The Project hosts Waleed Aly, Carrie Bickmore, Lisa Wilkinson and Peter Helliar  

Wilkinson joined The Project in late 2017 following a decade-long stint co-hosting Nine’s Today Show alongside Karl Stefanovic  

The disparity between the two pay packets was rumoured to have caused some friction, especially as Wilkinson has far less screen time than Bickmore.

‘[She is] p**sed off at Wilkinson being shipped in to sit alongside her,’ insiders allegedly told the publication at the time.  

The Daily Telegraph noted that the centre of her frustration was likely to surround her earning less than Lisa. 

Both women have extensively denied any feud, and their pay packets have not been confirmed by Channel Ten.

It comes after Wilkinson shared a moving tribute to Bickmore following the Gold Logie winner’s teary on-air resignation. In a sweet Instagram post, she shared a photo of the pair riding bikes with a sweet caption describing their friendship. Both pictured

Wilkinson shared a moving tribute to Bickmore following the Gold Logie winner’s teary on-air resignation on Tuesday evening. 

The beloved TV presenter fought back tears as she told viewers it was the hardest decision she has had to make in her professional life.

In a sweet Instagram post, Wilkinson shared a photo of the pair riding bikes with a sweet caption describing their long friendship. 

‘Long before Carrie Bickmore and I were The Project colleagues, we were mates off air working at different networks,’ she explained.

 

Wilkinson paid tribute to Bickmore saying her ‘friendship’ meant the world to her

‘And I feel so lucky to have now also shared the last five years at the Project desk with you, Carrie,’ she went on. 

She went on to explain Bickmore’s friendship and generosity ‘meant the world’. 

‘Thanks too for your guidance and support right from day one… and for always knowing just the right moment to reach out with a kind word,’ she continued. 

Wilkinson added she was ‘in awe’ of the way Bickmore managed to juggle a 13 year career of being an ‘awesome mum’ ‘journalist’ and ‘charity patron’.    

‘We mere mortals will never know how you did it all with so much grace, good humour and all that glamour,’ she added.

‘I know what a huge decision this has been for you, and we are all going to miss you terribly come year’s end. Can’t wait to see what comes next in your extraordinary life, or to share that next glass of wine – or five – with you! 

‘All my love and admiration, always,’ she added.  

Bickmore has been on The Project desk since the program first launched in 2009. 

‘I have some news that I wanted to share… s*** I’m already crying,’ she began when she announced she was quitting on Tuesday night. 

‘I have made the tough decision to finish up hosting the show at the end of the year.

Bickmore has been on The Project desk since the program was first launched back in 2009

‘It’s been the hardest decision of my professional life, to make this call, but it’s time for a new challenge and for my next chapter.’

Bickmore said she was going to miss her ‘mates on the desk’ and the ‘wonderful viewers’ who have supported the show for over a decade. 

‘It’s no secret that this show has become a second home to me, and I couldn’t be more thankful to everyone that has been involved on and off screen,’ she said. 

‘It has been a long journey. I started the show when Ollie, my son, was one, and he’s now 15, which is crazy. And I want to spend more time at home.

Bickmore (pictured at the Logies in 2019) said leaving The Project had been the hardest decision she had had to make in her professional career 

‘I want to have more family dinners. I’ll watch the show at home with a glass of wine in hand. I just wanted to say an enormous thank you. 

‘It has been an incredible privilege,’ she added. 

Bickmore said while she loved her ‘fulfilling’ job, she wanted to find out who she was without The Project. 

The mother-of-three shares two children, Evie and Adelaide, with her partner Chris Walker. Her eldest son Ollie is from her first marriage to her late husband Greg Lange, who tragically died of brain cancer in 2010

‘This show is so much in my DNA, and I don’t know who I am without it,’ she said.

The mother-of-three shares two children, Evie and Adelaide, with her partner Chris Walker. Her eldest son Ollie is from her first marriage to her late husband Greg Lange, who tragically died of brain cancer in 2010.  

In March, Bickmore announced she would be taking a few months off to travel through Europe with her children, while being mostly based in London. 

Bickmore and partner Chris Walker

‘We’ve been wanting to do it for a while but [the] timing hasn’t been right, but we figure it’s never going to be the perfect time to go,’ she told The Project at the time.

‘It’s something we really want to do before my son starts his final years at school so we’re doing term two in the UK. So I will be off for a couple of months,’ she added.

The family sold their five-bedroom family home in Melbourne just days before announcing her extended leave of absence. 

In March, Bickmore announced she would be taking a few months off to travel through Europe with her children, while being mostly based in London 

Her decision to do journalism was inspired by her father, who worked in radio for 24 years, but had previously dreamed of being a ballerina. 

Brian Bickmore is one of the founders of the Austereo Network and worked in radio in Adelaide and Melbourne for 24 years before retiring in 2004. 

Bickmore won the Gold Logie for the Most Popular Personality on Australian Television in 2015 and used her acceptance speech to honour her late husband Greg who died of brain cancer three years after their son Ollie was born. 

She donned a bright blue beanie as she spoke about her desire to raise awareness about the disease, which she said killed eight out of ten people who are diagnosed.

Bickmore won the Gold Logie for the Most Popular Personality on Australian Television in 2015 and used her acceptance speech to honour her late husband Greg who died of brain cancer

‘In 2010 my husband Greg was one of the unlucky ones. And after a long, long, long battle he died from brain cancer,’ she told the audience. 

‘Over ten years I watched him suffer multiple seizures a day, lose feeling down one side of his body. He was an incredibly brave man, he was a great dad. 

‘He was a great husband and a great brother. And he was a great friend. But he shouldn’t have had to go through that. No one should have to go through that.

‘Throughout his cancer journey he used to wear a lot of hats — he used to wear a lot of beanies. And that was because he felt embarrassed about his scars and his head. 

‘And I used to say to him: ‘Don’t be embarrassed, scars are really, really cool’. And beanies are also really cool.’

Bickmore called on ‘anyone who works in TV’ to wear a beanie the following day.  

Bickmore was supported by her co-hosts after she announced she would be stepping down from her role at The Project at the end of 2022