A Rove by any other name

Rove is into its tenth year on Australian TV. Photo / Supplied

Celebrating a decade of his variety-chat show, Rove McManus says he'd love to keep the programme going for another 10 years.

After a mid-year break, Rove returns to our screens in what, in Australia is his 10th anniversary season and says he's in no way ready to slow down.

"I'll gladly do another 10 if everyone will have me," said McManus. "We'll see how we go."

The show was first launched on Australia's Nine Network in 1999 when McManus was 25. It was axed at the end of the year. Network Ten picked it up the following year where it has remained to become one of the station's biggest ratings winners and in New Zealand it has become a fixture of TV3's Friday night schedule.

McManus, who was born in Perth as John McManus, said he never expected to be going for so many years in a primetime spot. "When we started the show we were at 11 o'clock on a Tuesday night - I would've just been happy to just get 10 years in that slot, let alone move into primetime and one of the most competitive slots of the television week. And doing some of our best numbers in those 10 years.

"It's nice to be talking about the show at this point in its lifespan when it's doing well."

Over the years, McManus says his most memorable moments have been the Flick Your Switch segment where people turn lights on and off to show they are watching, particularly when it happened at the prime minister's residence, Kirribilli House.

Others include broadcasting from New York City and being locked in glass box full of cockroaches.

McManus has remained dedicated to the show despite other projects including Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? He quit the show in late 2006 when his then wife Belinda Emmett died from cancer, but returned five months later.

This season, the show will have a few changes with regular "flashbacks'; throughout the season.

Also, joining the regular team of Peter Helliar, Ryan Shelton, and Hamish and Andy will be comedian Judith Lucy and newsreader Kristy Warner, taking the places vacated by Dave Hughes and Carrie Bickmore who have moved to the light news show The 7pm Project.

McManus said his team is planning a special 10th anniversary episode in a couple of months where they will no doubt "look back at some really bad hairstyles and awkward presentation skills from years gone by".

They also plan to expand the cast.

"We've got two new faces we'll probably be seeing before the year's end as well."

For now, McManus, who has recently returned from a three-week honeymoon with wife Tasma Walton in Africa, said the team were refreshed and excited. "We're all looking a lot more tanned than we probably should be, I think everyone's escaped to get to the sun, everyone's feeling nice and rested and ready to go," he said.

- AAP