Rove McManus' return to the box

NZ Herald

31 Aug, 2011 01:31 AM2 mins to read

Rove returns to our screens later this month with a new chat show. Photo / Supplied

Cheeky and charismatic Australian TV host Rove McManus is back with a new show after nearly two years off air.

He moved to Los Angeles at the beginning of last year following his decision to pull the plug on his popular Melbourne-based chat show Rove Live in late 2009.

The new show, Rove LA, will be filmed in the US, and as well as having the usual guest interviews it will also be like a weekly "postcard home" to Australia and New Zealand.

Starting on TV3 on Thursday, September 22 (with a time yet to be confirmed), it will cap off a bumper night on the box as it follows the premiere of American talent show X-Factor USA.

Created by former straight-talking American Idol judge Simon Cowell, X-Factor will essentially screen here on the same day as it does in the US. It premieres in the States on the evening of Wednesday, September 21, which is Thursday morning New Zealand time and TV3 plans to take it off the satellite as soon as possible to run it in prime time that night.

More on X-Factor soon but first Rove says, while he has been hosting a small segment called Rove Across America on The Tonight Show, he is looking forward to hosting his own show again.

"It's been a while though, you know," he tells TimeOut from Los Angeles. "I hope it's like riding a bike because you don't want to suck."

He says the show will be similar to Rove Live, only this time round he will not have a supporting cast of characters around him.

Meanwhile, X-Factor USA is the first time Cowell has been on TV screens since quitting American Idol last year. On the new show he is joined by former Idol judge Paula Abdul, as well as music producer L.A. Reid and head Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger. The format is strikingly different to shows such as Idol in that it is open to both solo artists and groups and there is no upper age limit. And as well as being judges, Cowell and his charges also act as mentors to their chosen group of performers.