He was the much-loved showbiz reporter on Australia’s number-one breakfast show. But behind the scenes, Nelson Aspen says he knew executives were looking to axe him.
In July 2022, headlines across Australia began reporting that Aspen was leaving Sunrise after almost 20 years on air.
“Nelson Aspen announces he’s leaving Sunrise after 20 years” – news.com.au
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“Sunrise star Nelson Aspen announces he’s leaving the breakfast show” – 7News
“Sunrise’s ‘man in Hollywood’ Nelson Aspen reveals the REAL reason he quit after 20 years: ‘It was relentless’” – Daily Mail
“We are gonna miss you so much” gushed co-host Matt Shirvington during Nelson’s final appearence on the Channel 7 breakfast show.
But according to Aspen, it was all PR spin.
In truth, he says he was axed by Seven, despite being popular with viewers — a claim he says was backed up by audience focus-group research.
In an exclusive interview with McKnight Tonight, Aspen has now decided to publicly reveal the truth about his departure.
*You can watch the interview in the video player below:
“Over the course of the years — and I worked under three executive producers: Adam Boland, Michael Pell and Sarah Stinson,” he says from his New York apartment.
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“The game is sometimes that you just have to tinker with it in an effort to keep it fresh. They tried to replace me — I made a list — Nula Hefner, James Tobin, Julia Morris, Fifi Box, Eddie Bartholomew.”
Despite all being talented broadcasters, none connected with audiences in quite the same way — a reality that helped keep Aspen on air longer than expected. “I kept coming back,” he says.
“There would be times where I’d be on five times a day, and then there’d be other times where I was on twice a week. It was an evolution, as you say.”
“However, that’s showbiz — and I needed to be loyal to the audience who was so loyal to me. I had to give them as much time as I would be allowed to give them. I wasn’t going to just disappear.”
And he didn’t.
Aspen is now a regular contributor on GB News in the UK, appearing as a political commentator. He’s also a successful author, having just released the final instalment of his Dancing Between the Raindrops book series.
The books are loosely based on his own life, filled with larger-than-life stories from Hollywood and New York.
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You can watch the full interview — including additional insights into his Sunrise years — in the video player above, and purchase the book at Amazon.
McKnight Tonight streams every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at 9pm AEDT on youtube.com/@mcknighttonight.
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