Nine explain the absence of Love Island Australia host Sophie Monk

Ever since Love Island Australia host Sophie Monk put in a respectable ten-minute appearance on the show’s premiere, she’s been glaringly absent.

And with reports alleging the 38-year-old was paid around ‘$1 million’ for the role, it would seem the former Bachelorette just earned the easiest payday of her career.

Defending her lack of screen time on Thursday, a Channel Nine spokesperson told News Corp: ‘the format of this multi-platform series revolves around our islanders.’

 ‘Her appearance means something big is about to happen’: Nine explains the glaring on-screen absence of Love Island host Sophie Monk… amid claims she earned ‘$1 million’ for the role

‘As host, Sophie’s appearance in the villa means the islanders know something big is about to happen so comes in whenever a major shake-up is made,’ they added. 

Nine also said the show was simply following the format of the UK original.

The caveat to the network’s statement is the fact the UK original has been known to garner a 12.5% audience share on a good night and likely doesn’t need to justify any of its staffing decisions.

Explanation: Defending her lack of screen time on Thursday, a Channel Nine spokesperson said 'the format of this multi-platform series revolves around our islanders' and said the same was the case with the UK version

Explanation: Defending her lack of screen time on Thursday, a Channel Nine spokesperson said ‘the format of this multi-platform series revolves around our islanders’ and said the same was the case with the UK version

 In fact, the Love Island UK season 3 finale was ITV2’s highest overnight audience of all time last year, notching 2.9 million viewers.

Based on audience numbers for Love Island Australia on the other hand, Channel Nine appears to have an expensive flop on their hands. 

The long-awaited premiere earned just 155,000 viewers for 9GO!, a figure that wasn’t good enough for the show to win the multi-channel timeslot.

No questions asked: The caveat to the network's statement is the fact the UK original has been known to garner a 12.5% audience share on a good night and likely doesn't need to justify any of its staffing decisions (pictured is UK Love Island host Caroline Flack)

No questions asked: The caveat to the network’s statement is the fact the UK original has been known to garner a 12.5% audience share on a good night and likely doesn’t need to justify any of its staffing decisions (pictured is UK Love Island host Caroline Flack)

7Mate claimed that victory with The Avengers, which saw 222,000 people tune-in.

So while Love Island UK achieves audience share statistics in the double digits, only around 4% of people viewing Australian TV on Sunday were watching Love Island Australia at 8.30pm.

Flop? Based on audience numbers for Love Island Australia on the other hand (around 4% audience share for the premiere)  Nine appears to have an expensive flop on their hands

Flop? Based on audience numbers for Love Island Australia on the other hand (around 4% audience share for the premiere)  Nine appears to have an expensive flop on their hands

In other words: ITV2 execs probably wont be rushing to ask why their highly-paid host Caroline Flack is rarely on the show.

Advertisers simply don’t pay big bucks on shows with low ratings, so it’s safe to say Channel Nine will have a harder time justifying Sophie’s salary-to-screen-time ratio.

According to Now To Love: ‘Soph finally settled on a $1 million package for the nine-week gig after several heated discussions.

The difference: In other words: ITV2 execs probably wont be rushing to ask why their highly-paid host is rarely on the show

The difference: In other words: ITV2 execs probably wont be rushing to ask why their highly-paid host is rarely on the show

 She cost how much? Advertisers simply don't pay big bucks on shows with low-ratings, so it's safe to say Channel Nine will have a harder time justifying Sophie's salary-to-screen-time ratio.

 She cost how much? Advertisers simply don’t pay big bucks on shows with low-ratings, so it’s safe to say Channel Nine will have a harder time justifying Sophie’s salary-to-screen-time ratio.



Read more at DailyMail.co.uk