Popular ABC Kids favourite Giggle and Hoot has been cancelled

Posted in Entertainment and Technology.
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After ten years of entertaining delighted preschoolers, the sad news just broke that there will be no new episodes of Giggle and Hoot. 

Goodbye Giggle and Hoot

Jimmy Rees — aka Jimmy Giggle — shot the last episode of the cancelled ABC Kids favourite last week. The show has drawn the line at Season 11 with the final season set to air through to early 2020.

“I have loved every moment, every interaction, every smile, every laugh, every high five I have had with you all!!” Jimmy said in an Instagram post announcing that the show was ending.

“You have filled my heart with joy!! I don’t think I’ll ever have an experience and a job like this again!!”

Fear not, however, because Giggle and Hoot will not disappear from TV or from ABC iView.

“It’s not like the show’s going to stop. ABC will run the show probably till I’m about 50,” Jimmy reassured The Sydney Morning Herald.

“This has been a really hard decision. But to the public, I’m sure I’ll be Jimmy Giggle for a long while.”

Libbie Doherty is the head of children’s production at the ABC and she explained a little more about why the show was bowing out.

Giggle and Hoot has had a remarkable production run over more than a decade, capturing the hearts and minds of generations of preschoolers and their families,” Libbie said, news.com.au reports.

“After celebrating the show’s 10th birthday, Jimmy spoke with us and we both agreed the time was right to opt-out while we were still on top.”

Jimmy revealed that working on the show — which shoots for 47 weeks of the year — has been brilliant, but has also meant lots of sacrifices for his family – and for wife Tori.

“This was my dream job. Tori was at uni … she moved her whole life for my dream,” a teary Jimmy said in an Instagram video, noting they’d only been together for six months at that point.

Thanking her for her support he paid tribute to everything they’d been through together — including having three gorgeous children — during the decade of Giggle and Hoot.

View this post on Instagram

We shot our last episode of Giggle and Hoot yesterday. 😭!! Last night myself and all the cast, crew and production team celebrated a phenomenal last 10 years. The only people absent from the celebration were all of you, the fans from the last 10 years of Giggle and Hoot, some of which are nearing the end of high school 😱!! Makes me feel old!! To every single parent and child that we reached across the nation (and for a while in the Asia-Pacific region😜) I thank you from the deepest part of my heart!! I have loved every moment, every interaction, every smile, every laugh, every high five I have had with you all!! You have filled my heart with joy!! I don’t think I’ll ever have an experience and a job like this again!! Thank you for supporting the silly man and blue owl, I love you all!! Now, you’re probably asking why? Well I’m moving into a new phase of my life, I have ambitions, I have family and I’m excited to take on a new journey in my career!! The ABC have been amazing to me and they will still run G&H on air and into the future, and Jimmy Giggle and Hoot will still hit the road throughout the year in our live show (stay tuned for more info)!! But for now our year long TV shooting schedule will be no more. There are exciting things in the pipe line I am looking forward to sharing with you!! Again thank you for everything!! Here is the press release and an article from the SMH -> links in my story…

A post shared by Jimmy Rees (@jimmyrees_) on

What’s next for Jimmy Sizzle?

Jimmy, Tori and their kids four-year-old Lenny and 10-month-old twins Vinny and Mac are clearly primed for fresh adventures, and perhaps to relocate back to Victoria where their extended family live.

Earlier this year the family suffered a terrible shock when baby Mack’s “routine” tongue-tie procedure when horribly wrong, with near-fatal consequences.

In the wake of this, it sounds like the Rees gang are keen to prioritise more time together and spend much more time with their nearest and dearest. Thankfully Mack has recovered brilliantly.

The SMH reports that Jimmy’s currently mulling over opportunities in radio and also keen to explore his relationship with the Ten network following his appearance on their program Dancing With The Stars.

Watch this space! And thanks for all the giggles, Jimmy!

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