The Project is a New Zealand current affairs show hosted by Jesse Mulligan, Kanoa Lloyd, and Jeremy Corbett with rotating guest panelists. It aired at 7 pm weeknights on Three.
The programme was officially cancelled on 26 October 2023, and its last episode aired on 1 December 2023.
Format The show's format was purchased from Roving Enterprises and was the same as that of the Australian version, The Project, which airs on Network Ten. It presented light and topical current affairs content as well as comedy from recent news stories. It was filmed and broadcast live in front of a studio audience.
Each presenter filled a different role on the programme: the anchor (Jesse Mulligan), the newsreader (Kanoa Lloyd) and the comedian (Jeremy Corbett). They were usually joined by a guest presenter who was typically a well-known New Zealander, such as a journalist, comedian or politician, or an international guest. Jaquie Brown filled that role regularly on Fridays. All the presenters introduced and voiced over magazine-style current affairs stories and discussed the day's events.
Episodes were thirty minutes, but were sixty minutes on Fridays from the show's 2017 launch until the end of 2019. The guest presenter and live audience were briefly discontinued during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Presenters PresenterRoleTenureJesse MulliganAnchor20 February 2017 – 1 December 2023Kanoa LloydNewsreader20 February 2017 – 1 December 2023Jeremy CorbettComedian19 March 2018 – 1 December 2023Jaquie BrownGuest presenter (Fridays)24 March 2017 – 2023Josh ThomsonComedian20 February 2017 – 16 March 2018
Backup presenters
As anchor Jon Bridges Michael Wesley-Smith Wallace Chapman Patrick Gower Ryan Bridge Nadine Higgins As newsreader Nadine Higgins (née Chalmers-Ross) Mike McRoberts Ali Mau Isobel Ewing Jeremy Corbett Kate Rodger Laura Tupou As comedian Ben Hurley Peter Helliar Jeremy Elwood Rhys Mathewson Dai Henwood Josh Thomson Rose Matafeo Melanie Bracewell Urzila Carlson Justine Smith Rove McManus Guy Williams Heath Franklin (as Chopper) Jono Pryor Tony Lyall Paul Ego Jaquie Brown Pax Assadi
History
Season 1 (2017) The first television advertisement for the show was released in early February and promoted the show as "not the same old song and dance". The program launched on 20 February 2017 with hosts Jesse Mulligan, Kanoa Lloyd, and Josh Thomson, and guest host Rove McManus, and became the number 1 trend on Twitter during its timeslot. Fill-in hosts throughout the first season include Ben Hurley, Peter Helliar, Jeremy Elwood, Rhys Mathewson, and Dai Henwood for Josh Thomson, Jon Bridges, Michael Wesley-Smith and Wallace Chapman for Jesse Mulligan, and Nadine Higgins (née Chalmers-Ross) for Kanoa Lloyd. On Monday through Thursday, episodes aired for half an hour, and on Friday, for a whole hour.
On 5 June 2017, RadioLive ceased simulcasting The Project.
The season ended on 15 December 2017, having aired 212 episodes.
Season 2 (2018) The second season of The Project debuted on 15 January 2018, three weeks earlier than its competitor, Seven Sharp.
On 16 March 2018, Josh Thomson left his position as panelist on The Project, although he "will continue to contribute to The Project, and will join Jesse and Kanoa on the desk regularly." His position was filled by Jeremy Corbett, who had usually been the fourth host on Monday nights.
On 18 May 2018, Francesca Avent and Toby Gilsenan got married live on The Project, with Jaquie Brown officiating, as a culmination of the show's week-long celebration of the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
The season ended on 14 December 2018, having aired 238 episodes.
Season 3 (2019) The third season of The Project debuted on 21 January 2019, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's partner Clarke Gayford as the fourth host.
On 15 March, they had no fourth host or live studio audience as they covered the Christchurch mosque shootings.
On 17 April, there was no episode, because Three was airing the You Are Us/Aroha Nui concert live from Christchurch. There was also no episodes on 19 April or 22 April for Good Friday and Easter Monday.
The season ended on 13 December 2019, having aired 232 episodes.
Season 4 (2020) The fourth season of The Project debuted on 20 January 2020. The Friday episodes were reduced to half an hour.
On 17 February, they aired at 6:30pm due to a network outage at Newshub, which forced Three to re-air the 4:30pm bulletin at 6pm, and meant that they didn't have an autocue.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the show stopped having an audience from 16 March, and from 23 March, it stopped having a rotating guest panelist, changing to a three-host format. A physically distanced studio audience returned on 18 May. A full studio audience and rotating guest panelist returned on 8 June, with Patrick Gower being the first.
On 12 August, with Auckland returning to Alert Level 3, the show stopped having an audience and reverted to the three-host format. When Auckland returned to Alert Level "2.5" on 31 August, a fourth host returned and a physically distanced audience was added.
The season ended on 11 December 2020, having aired 233 episodes.
Season 5 (2021) The fifth season of The Project debuted on 18 January 2021. The rotating guest panelist was removed from 15 to 17 February 2021 and again from 1 to 5 March 2021, while Auckland was in Alert Level 3.
On 27 May, Urzila Carlson was scheduled to be the guest host, but had to self-isolate before the episode began.
, 116 episodes have been aired.
Ending On 26 October 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery ANZ confirmed they had commenced discussions to discontinue The Project by December 2023, citing changes in audience behaviour. The final episode aired on 1 December 2023.
Episodes Season 1 # Guest hostAir date1Rove McManus2Kylie Bax3Patrick Gower4Paul Henry5Urzila Carlson6Lucy Lawless7Bill Ralston8Petra Bagust9Duncan Greive10Jaquie Brown11Jeremy Corbett12Lizzie Marvelly13Patrick Gower14Mark Sainsbury15Michelle Dickinson16Louise Wallace17Bill Ralston18Jaquie Brown19Mark Sainsbury20Petra Bagust21Jeremy Corbett22Urzila Carlson23Bill Ralston24Louise Wallace25Jaquie Brown26Jeremy Corbett27Lizzie Marvelly28Petra Bagust29Mark Sainsbury30Jaquie Brown31Jeremy Corbett32Mark Richardson33Jon Bridges34Petra Bagust35Jaquie Brown36Jeremy Corbett37Petra Bagust38Bill Ralston39Jaquie Brown40Michelle Dickinson41Louise Wallace42Mark Sainsbury43Jaquie Brown44Jeremy Corbett45Lizzie Marvelly46Mark Richardson47Jaquie Brown48Jeremy Corbett49Louise Wallace50Petra Bagust51Mark Sainsbury52Jaquie Brown53Dominic Bowden54Jeremy Corbett55Lizzie Marvelly56Paula Bennett57Jaquie Brown58Jeremy Corbett59Petra Bagust60Mike Wesley-Smith61Bill Ralston62Jaquie Brown63Jeremy Corbett64Jacinda Ardern65Mark Richardson66Mark Sainsbury67Jaquie Brown68Jeremy Corbett69Urzila Carlson70Petra Bagust71Bill Ralston72Jaquie Brown73Jeremy Corbett74Mark Richardson75Metiria Turei76Mark Sainsbury77Patrick Gower78Jeremy Corbett79Mark Richardson80Ali Mau81Bill Ralston82Jaquie Brown83Jeremy Corbett84Mark Richardson85Ali Mau86Mark Sainsbury87Jaquie Brown88Jeremy Corbett89Mark Richardson90David Seymour91Rhys Darby92Jaquie Brown93Jeremy Corbett94Mark Richardson95Jordan Williams96Louise Wallace97Jaquie Brown98Petra Bagust99Mark Richardson100Peter Dunne101Ali Mau102Jaquie Brown103Petra Bagust104Mark Richardson105Jordan Williams106Mark Sainsbury107Jaquie Brown108Jeremy Corbett109Mark Richardson110Mikey Havoc111Ali Mau112Jaquie Brown113Jeremy Corbett114Mark Richardson115Petra Bagust116Lloyd Burr117Jaquie Brown118Jeremy Corbett119Mary Lambie120Mikey Havoc121Mark Richardson122Jaquie Brown123Jeremy Corbett124Petra Bagust125Mark Richardson126Steven Joyce127Jaquie Brown128Jeremy Corbett129Marama Fox130Mary Lambie131Lloyd Burr132Jaquie Brown133Jeremy Corbett134Petra Bagust135Bill English136Mark Richardson137Jaquie Brown138Jeremy Corbett139Gerry Brownlee140Mark Richardson141Carmel Sepuloni142Jaquie Brown143Mark Sainsbury144Jacinda Ardern145Mark Richardson146Ali Mau147Mary Lambie148Bill English149Lisa Owen150Winston Peters151Mark Richardson152Jaquie Brown153Lisa Owen154Jeremy Corbett155Mark Richardson156Mary Lambie157Jaquie Brown158Mark Sainsbury159Scott Brown160Louise Wallace161Mikey Havoc162Jaquie Brown163Jeremy Corbett164Lisa Owen165Mark Richardson166Mark Sainsbury167Jaquie Brown168Jeremy Corbett169Peter Dunne170Mary Lambie171Marama Fox172Jaquie Brown173Petra Bagust174Mark Richardson175Mark Sainsbury176Ali Mau177Jaquie Brown178Jeremy Corbett179Louise Wallace180Mikey Havoc181Neil Finn182Paul Ego183Jeremy Corbett184Mary Lambie185Mark Richardson186Ali Mau187Tim Shadbolt188Jeremy Corbett189Mark Sainsbury190Peter Dunne191Mark Richardson192Jaquie Brown193Mary Lambie194Mark Richardson195Jay-Jay Harvey196Ali Mau197Jaquie Brown198Jeremy Corbett199Louise Wallace200Petra Bagust201Mikey Havoc202Jaquie Brown203Guy Williams204Mary Lambie205Mark Richardson206Mark Sainsbury207Jaquie Brown208Jay-Jay Harvey209Mike McRoberts210Mikey Havoc211Mark Richardson212Jaquie Brown
Season 2