Today shakes things up for the weekend
The Nine Network has revealed that Jayne Azzopardi and Clint Stanaway will be joining the dedicated team of Weekend Today, alongside news presenter Sophie Walsh.
And in celebration of their new gig, the two spoke to 9Entertainment, with Stanaway sharing the team’s excitement and desire to bring a fresh experience to the show, keeping viewers entertained and informed along the way.
"We're good listeners,” he explained, “and I'm really excited to sort of showcase people's stories. There's no doubt, I think both of us, and including Sophie, we want to bring a relaxed sort of vibe to the show and have some fun, but as well as keeping people entertained, we know we have a responsibility to keep people informed as well."
And as Azzopardi added, “during the week, everybody's so rushed, trying to get the kids off to school and get out the door to work. On the weekend everything happens at a little bit of a slower pace.
"So you can have us on the TV while you're eating breakfast and having your coffee and there'll be interesting conversations, and also maybe helping you make sense of things that have happened during the week that you've heard about, but you haven't really had a chance to read a lot about it because it's too busy."
Azzopardi went on to note that working with Clint has “just been so easy”, and that they know they have each other’s support, as well as being able to “trust each other to be able to do our jobs properly, and all actually really, really like each other.”
"I'm a sports veteran, Jayne's all about politics, and I love Sophie's cheek and humour,” Stanaway noted of their team dynamic.
"And we're all from different parts of the country. I'm unashamedly a Melbourne guy, Jayne's from the Sydney shire, and Sophie's a Queenslander at heart, and I love that about us. And I think that's really showcased on our show.”
He added that they had also known each other for “a long time as colleagues”.
The difference in their career history - Stanaway reporting on sports, Jayne covering finance and politics - is likely to be the backbone of their success for the breakfast TV programme, with its variety in coverage across the realms of news and current affairs, weather, politics, lifestyle, and entertainment. And as Stanaway put it, “Jayne's the sensible one. She started out in finance. Right there is the contrast between us.”
But they won’t be the only ones contributing to their broadcasts, with Azzopardi making sure to recognise everyone behind the scenes too, noting that “we've got fantastic producers and they work so hard and keep us on our toes. They pull us up if we're talking for a bit too long and keep things running to time."
Stanaway then took the opportunity to point out, “because when we get started we can be hard to shut up!"
Images: Today / Nine