Kerri-Anne Kennerley blasts Studio 10 for ‘going woke’ after 2020 sacking 

Kerri-Anne Kennerley says it is ‘sad’ to see Studio 10 become an insufferable woke-fest after she was sacked from the show two years ago.

The former queen of daytime TV was given her marching orders in August 2020 as Network Ten desperately tried to cut costs during the Covid pandemic.

Her departure from the show coincided with Studio 10’s content becoming more politically progressive, as well as a steep decline in ratings.

Kennerley, 69, told Woman’s Day she suspects the producers buckled to woke views and cancel culture after a few minor controversies.

‘I don’t know what go into producers’ minds. They all got scared. They’ve chickened out, in my view,’ she said in an interview published on Monday.

‘When I was on Studio 10, I really felt like we were getting better and better each week. I think in the 18 months I was there, they got more traction and more press than they ever did in the previous five or six years.’

She continued: ‘And if I’d produced it, I would have doubled down. I would have said, “Okay, let’s go further, let’s go more controversial.’

While it was never in competition with Nine’s Today Extra or Seven’s The Morning Show, Studio 10 once had a loyal audience of over-50s who tuned in each morning to watch the panel debate news events from a range of political perspectives.

But its ratings have been in freefall over the last two years after ditching the panel in favour of a two-anchor format helmed by Sarah Harris and Tristan MacManus.

The show has also taken a notable shift to the left politically since 2020, which may be due to the influence of younger producers and newsreader Narelda Jacobs.

This move has baffled many industry insiders given that Studio 10’s core audience is older, more conservative Australians who still watch daytime TV.

One source said Kennerley’s sacking in 2020 was baffling because her centre-right views actually reflect those of the average Studio 10 viewer.

However, it’s believed her exit was mostly a cost-cutting measure, with Kennerley telling Woman’s Day: ‘I like to think it wasn’t personal.’

The Logie Hall of Famer often made headlines during her 18 months on Studio 10, most notably finding herself at the centre of a feud with panelist Yumi Stynes.

Stynes accused Kennerley live on air of ‘sounding like a racist’ for suggesting that First Nations people should be more concerned about widespread abuse in remote Indigenous communities than changing the date of Australia Day.

In the aftermath of the controversy, Kennerley met with Aboriginal women in outback NT after being invited by the Tangentyere Women’s Family Safety Group.

She later said she ‘learned a lot’ from the experience.