Paul "Fatty" Vautin's emotional tribute to fans
Paul “Fatty” Vautin has written a heartfelt message to his fans for supporting him over the years, after his shock departure from the NRL Footy Show last year.
In a lengthy piece for Nine’s Wide World of Sports, he opened up about his termination from Nine and also expressed his appreciation that he has hosted the Footy Show for the last 24 years.
He wrote: “I got relieved of my duties in October last year which was a bit of a shock and disappointment, but in this world you've got to put the big boy pants on and move on, and actually I'm extremely happy now being back in the commentary box and doing a bit of work with Rabs and Ray and all the boys, Joey and Sterlo. It's good to be back at the local grounds, the grassroots of rugby league and enjoying myself.”
“I'm here to express my gratitude at being allowed to host the NRL Footy Show for the last 24 years. I think it's one of the greatest television shows in the history of television and I'm so proud to have been involved in it,” he added.
Thanks for the memories, Fat. ❤️ #9NRLFootyShow pic.twitter.com/tOfxVO1WVp
— The NRL Footy Show (@NRLFootyShow) May 24, 2018
Fatty went on to thank all the people who made the Footy Show the great success it was for so many years.
“There's so many people to thank for that. First up, all the executive producers of the show. I had a few head butts with them all but we also laughed a lot,” he said.
“Then we've got Peter Sterling. I love this bloke because when we were doing the show, we basically had no idea what we were doing back in the mid 90s.
“I would be taking the show down a track that was almost irretrievable, but Sterlo would somehow drag it back. He was the voice of reason. He's a magnificent talent and I can't thank him enough for being my right hand man for a long time. We had a lot of fun doing the anti-ads.”
He wished his replacement Erin Molan – who has been copping plenty of backlash for the new format Footy Show – all the best.
“Erin I wish you all the best with the baby and hope it goes well and may you continue to host the Footy Show for a long, long time,” he wrote.
Finally, Fatty directly thanked the fans of the show.
“And last of all to thank is the fans. Because we did this show for the fans. Whether you supported Manly or Parramatta, it didn't matter, we did it for you. It was pretty hard to get the balance right but we tried hard, we tried to keep you laughing for a long time,” he said.
“I'm proud of the fact that the show won 11 Logies including the last five in a row as the best sports show in Australia, I'm proud of the fact that the show is still on air, the show is still going in its 25th year. I'm proud of the fact that I made a lot of friends and I'm also proud that when everyone came on I like to think they walked off thinking, 'That was fun, I'd love to do that again', and I hoped you laughed with me.
“Thanks for watching. That's a sign out from me,” he signed off.