The perennially friendly TV host, comedian and mass gay wedding celebrant Adam Hills has induced cries of “Awwwww” and offers of cups of tea from all over Australia, as he announced via his blog today that he would be taking a break from Australian television screens in 2014 to avoid burnout and spend more time with his currently existing daughter and soon-to-be-birthed second one. Hills has chosen not to resurrect his Adam Hills Tonight talk show, and won’t be involved in the updated version of musical quiz show Spicks and Specks.
Hills posted the following statement on his blog today:
Hello
I just thought I’d write a wee blog to explain why, after nine years of hosting my own shows on Australian TV, I have decided not to present Adam Hills Tonight for ABC1 in 2014.
Basically, I need a rest. More to the point, I need a break. I fear that in trying to combine a career on UK TV as well as one in Australia, I am in danger of, to put it simply, running out of funny. I love what I do, and am very lucky to do it, but it is also important to recharge every now and then. As a comedian you can’t talk about life if you don’t have one, and at the moment my life consists of planes, trains, cars, TV studios, and stages. Like I said, I love every minute of it, but I also need some time away from it to come up with something new and funny to say.
Added to all this is the fact that my wife and I are expecting our second child any day, and I don’t want to be so busy making other people laugh that I don’t make my own daughters happy.
The mere fact that I will be the father of two girls means I will need to get back to work as soon as possible, in order to pay for whatever outrageous demands teenagers will have in 2023, so rest assured I will be banging on the ABC’s door before the end of the year with a whole laptop full of new ideas, and may even resurrect Adam Hills Tonight in 2015 if anyone will let me.
I am so grateful to the ABC, and more importantly to the viewers, for letting me have the TV career I have had thus far, and I can assure you this is not a decision I have taken lightly.
I will still be on Aussie TV screens in 2014 with The Last Leg, which Channel 4 in the UK have commissioned for at least another two series, and I am also talking to Channel 4 about some new ideas (some theirs, some mine) which may also make it back to Australia. Plus I have plans for another stand up tour in 2015, so I’m certainly still going to be knocking around.
For now though, (and I’ll be honest, I’m not even sure how many people will feel the need to read this blog) I’d like to reiterate how thankful I am for the way things panned out – from Spicks and Specks to Gordon St to AHT – and I have never taken any of it for granted.
Oh, and by the way, I am very happy that Spicks and Specks is to be regenerated. We always felt there was life in the old dog, and I wish Josh, Ella and Adam all the best for a successful run.
Again, I feel very lucky for the career I’ve had – I just don’t want to get to the end of it and wish I had taken some time to enjoy it.
That’s all for now.
Gosh, he’s so nice! Adam Hills will continue to appear in Channel 4 UK’s The Last Leg, which has been commissioned for another two series and is likely to return to ABC2.
