Carrie Bickmore’s BFF reveals who will be The Project’s next star power

Carrie Bickmore will say farewell to her seat at The Project on November 30, but who will be the night-time show’s new champion?

Channel Ten is yet to announce Carrie’s replacement, but the top three candidates have been revealed by regular panelist Kate Langbroek during a sit down on news.com.au’s podcast I’ve Got News For You. After some push for details by host Andrew Bucklow, Kate named guest panelist Chrissie Swan, Georgie Tunny and Studio 10 host Sarah Harris as all potential contenders for Carrie’s seat.

“Well, I actually think there’s probably a good chance of it being one of those three,” she said.

She further pointed out it would be difficult to replace such a seasoned journalist like Carrie that meets all the personal and professional requirements for a host.

“Everyone’s racking their brains to think of the perfect person, and it’s really hard to replace Carrie, because she’s got a very broad skill set in that she’s a journalist,” she said.

“But she’s also into pop culture, and she’s topical, and she looks beautiful and she engages at the desk.”

Chrissie Swan has taken on Carrie’s position once before after she took extended leave from The Project in early 2022, in which Peter Helliar told Yahoo Lifestyle Chrissie hosted ‘effortlessly’.

“I was excited to have her on but I was also a bit nervous because I was like, she hasn’t read news before. People like Carrie and Lisa [Wilkinson] make it seem really easy and effortless, but there is a real craft and art to it and reading the news is something I’m glad I don’t have to do,” he said.

“The biggest compliment I can give her as far as the job goes is that we thought the three months was going to take forever because Carrie’s the captain of our team, there’s no doubt about it, and it actually went quite quickly.”

Meanwhile Sarah Harris has also featured on The Project as a fill-in host, but she would need to resign from Studio 10 where she hosted for nine years.

Georgie Tunny transitioned from part-time to a permanent position on The Project a few months ago and also filled in for Carrie during her extended leave.