2024 marks 30 years on air for the beloved lifestyle show Better Homes and Gardens… and while recent news has shocked fans, BHG will remain a mainstay of the schedule.
“We have a saying that the great thing about working on the show is everyone is so close. But the worst thing about working on the show is everyone is so close,” Executive Producer of Better Homes & Gardens, Russel Palmer, told TV Tonight.
WATCH NOW: Fast Ed’s easy paella. Article continues after video.
Over its three decades on air, BHG has continued to draw big audiences despite its drastic changes over the years.
“Today we tend to focus more on how a story ‘feels’ than the mechanics of the story. We’ve tried to introduce a lot more, commercial music to our stories, because we recognise that there’s a great age range watching the show. We also have an enormous age range, presenting the show”, Palmer said.
With recent news of Fast Ed leaving Australian screens followed by the announcement that Colin Fassnidge would be his replacement and now the news that Karen Martini will be stepping back, 2024 will be a big year for the beloved lifestyle show.
“The show has become a family show that we believe gives people content that has anything to do with their lifestyle. It’s not just cooking and gardening, we look at anything that people find interesting that relates to them on a daily/weekly basis,” Palmer said.
Chef and restauranteur Karen Martini recently announced she will be stepping back from Better Homes and Gardens to invest her focus on her new restaurants and her daughters.
While Martini is not leaving the program, she will not be a weekly regular and is instead planning to make fewer appearances while she prioritises her focus elsewhere and finds a healthy balance between her commitments.
Martini spoke with 7NEWS about her plans for the future and the reason behind her recent decision to step back.
“With my two new restaurants— Johnny’s Green Room already open and Saint George set to launch soon — as well as so many other projects on the go, 2024 is shaping up to be my busiest year ever,” she said.
“I’ve just come back from the Great Australian Culinary Voyage where I curated some beautiful bespoke menus and have some more exciting ventures to come soon.
“My daughters are in their last teenage years too — it’s quite daunting as Stella is in year 12 and also on her Ls.”
“With so much on my plate, I’ve made the decision to step back from Better Homes and Gardens (BHAG) this year while I focus on some of my other exciting projects.
“So don’t be alarmed if I’m not in your living room every Friday night.”
This news follows just weeks after Colin Fassnidge joined the program.
After two decades of cooking up a storm on Better Homes and Gardens, Ed Halmagyi AKA Fast Ed left Australia’s screens in 2023.
Better Homes and Gardens then announced Fast Ed’s celebrity replacement as the beloved My Kitchen Rules judge Colin Fassnidge.
He said that working on BHG “really feels like coming home.”
“I’ve been friends with Johanna [Griggs] ever since I started at Channel 7, and the rest of the cast and I get on like a house on fire,” he shared.
“I can’t wait to get out on the road and travel around this beautiful country, cooking with some of the best and freshest produce in the world.
“I’ll be bringing my passion, humour and cheeky Irish flair as I whip up my favourite simple, quick and affordable recipes that everyone can make and enjoy at home.”
Why did Fast Ed leave?
Fast Ed is renowned for his quick and easy recipes, with fans having memories of quickly writing down his recipes as he cooked on their TVs.
Turns out, he never intended to be on television!
“In 2004 I was asked to do a screen test, and the fact I am still here on Better Homes and Gardens 20 years later is equal parts fantastic and bizarre,” he revealed.
Over the twenty years, he explained how much BHG meant to him: “I have been honoured to get the chance to tell stories to people who love food every week and be part of this amazing show that is part of Australia’s fabric.”
“After more than two decades of sharing recipes as a presenter on Better Homes and Gardens, I have made the decision to step back from my role on the show,” Halmagyi broke the news.
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Ed has wanted to open up a bakery for more than a decade and now his dream is about to come true, set to open in mid-December 2023 in Surry Hills.
Revealing that he’s named it after his Jewish name, Avner, which will sell babka, bagels, bialys, rugelach and “the most killer potato bread you’ve ever tried.”
Revealing that he takes his Jewish heritage “really seriously” and can’t wait to bake the “sweet smell of babka” in his bakery.
Better Homes and Gardens airs Friday, 7pm, on Channel 7 and 7Plus.
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