Channel Seven poaches rising TV star in coup that will send shockwaves through industry – in a devastating blow for Nine’s future
EXCLUSIVE
Channel Seven is about to announce it has pulled off a major coup after persuading Eddie McGuire’s son to defect from Nine as it continues to headhunt its rival’s brightest stars.
Ny Breaking Australia can reveal that 21-year-old Xander McGuire – Eddie’s eldest son and wife of financial adviser Carla – will take on a bigger role in both Seven’s news and sports departments in a bid to further destabilize Nine.
Xander, who has already signed a deal with Seven, has established himself as one of Nine’s most promising talents after joining the network in 2022, with sports presenter Tony Jones describing him as “the best young reporter I’ve seen in almost 40 years ‘.
It is understood Seven were planning to unveil their latest star signing as early as Wednesday in Melbourne’s Herald Sun newspaper, a move that will send shockwaves through the football-mad city where the McGuire clan are regarded as media and football kings.
It comes just days after Seven secured the services of Eddie McGuire to produce two new Aussie Rules talk shows for the 2025 season in a deal that will also pit him against his long-term home at Nine.
It is understood that one of the shows, made by McGuire’s production company JAM TV, will be called Sunday Footy Feast and will compete against Nine’s long-standing Sunday Footy Show.
The second show, The Wash, will take place after Seven’s live and exclusive footy coverage on Sunday afternoon.
Seven has already decimated Nine’s Footy Classified show this year with star presenters Kane Cornes, Caroline Wilson and Craig Hutchison, while also bringing St Kilda legend and former Fox Sports presenter Nick Riewoldt out of retirement and back to TV have gone.
Seven has pulled off a major coup after convincing rising star Xander McGuire to defect from arch-rival Nine while securing the services of his famous father Eddie McGuire
Xander, 21, was described by Nine sports presenter Tony Jones as ‘the best young reporter I’ve seen in almost 40 years’
Xander and his brother Joe grew up in the spotlight alongside their famous father, Eddie, and mother, Carla
The poaching of
Xander has been something of a celebrity in Melbourne since he was old enough to attend Collingwood football games with his famous father more than two decades ago, as well as the red carpet events with mother Carla and brother Joe.
He also has plenty of experience in front of the camera, having landed his first television gig on Ten’s soap opera Neighbors in 2015, when he was just 12.
The young actor became a fixture as troubled teenager Charlie Hoyland, the son of Carla Bonner’s long-running character, Steph Scully, before deciding to follow in his father’s footsteps and turn his attention to sports reporting.
The award-winning prodigy took a six-month sabbatical from his sports reporting duties in May so he could complete the political component of his arts studies at the University of St Andrews in Scotland.
Although he indicated he was looking forward to rejoining Nine after completing his onboard studies, Ny Breaking Australia revealed last month that he was already in talks with Seven about jumping ship.
Xander has been a regular on Australian television since he was almost ten years old as Charlie Hoyland on the soap opera Neighbours, when he was just 12 years old.
The McGuire boys, Joe and
Joe McGuire now scores goals as a gambler at Ohio State University in America
His father Eddie started his television career at Ten as a young sports reporter in the 1980s before joining Nine in 1993, going on to host Who Wants to be a Millionaire and enjoying a brief stint as CEO of Nine in 2006.
While he admits to driving his son to the Neighbors screen test, he said he had no role in his casting and that Xander “did all of this on his own merit and merit.”
While Eddie and Xander both have a natural talent for talking football, Joe McGuire has had more success playing it.
The talented athlete signed this year with one of America’s leading college football teams, Ohio State University.
The top-ranked team known as the Buckeyes has won national championships eight times and regularly competes in front of more than 100,000 fans in their home stadium.
Joe McGuire, who weighs a whopping 96kg and is 188cm tall, was brought on board in July as back-up to fellow Australian punter Jesse Mirco.