New details in Nova radio shake-up reveals where Joel Creasey is really going – after he is excluded from Ricki-Lee Coulter and Tim Blackwell’s move to replace Kate Ritchie in breakfast

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Joel Creasey has announced his future plans after confirming he won’t be continuing on breakfast radio with Ricki-Lee Coulter and Tim Blackwell.

Nova made a big change to its morning show on Friday, replacing popular hosts Fitzy & Wippa with Kate Ritchie with the new duo Ricki-Lee & Tim.

Viewers of the show Drive were puzzled when comedian Joel wasn’t mentioned in the announcement of the team, even though he’s considered a key member – the third one, in fact.

The host, age 35, recently shared on the Ricki-Lee, Tim & Joel show that he’s staying put – he’s just been given his own show across the country on Nova.

Taking a cue from Chrissie Swan, he announced on Friday afternoon that he’s going it alone.

‘What were they thinking! You’ll be able to hear The Joel Creasey Show nationally at lunchtimes.’ 

He joked that it seemed like the boss believed things were already disastrous, and was deliberately making them worse just to see what would happen.

Tim, 44, jokingly told Joel that since Joel starts his day so early, lunchtime for him feels like morning radio – everyone’s just waking up!

‘You’ve got your own version of breakfast!’ Ricki-Lee, 40, added.

‘I really do! That is my breakfast,’ Joel responded. 

Nova announced that The Joel Creasey Show will premiere in April.

This announcement follows reports that Fitzy & Wippa, along with Kate Ritchie, are moving from their breakfast radio show to host a national drive program instead.

Ryan Fitzgerald, Michael Wipfli, and Kate Ritchie shared the announcement on their breakfast radio show Friday morning.

After 15 years hosting their breakfast radio show, ‘Fitzy & Wippa with Kate Ritchie,’ Wippa, 46, announced they’ve earned a promotion to host the national drive time slot.

‘4-6pm around Australia on the country’s best Radio Network, Nova. There it is, guys!’

Fitzy, 48, reassured listeners, saying, ‘I know a lot of you might be worried we were going anywhere, but that’s not the case. This isn’t a farewell – we’re not leaving!’

This represents how the show has grown and changed over time. After 15 years, we’ve built a fantastic and loyal audience.

We really need your help, and while we’ve always handled school drop-offs, we’re now just going to focus on picking you up in the afternoons.

That’s all there is to it – the show will be called Fitzy, Wippa & Kate. We – Wippa and I – only had one request: that Kate Ritchie just use one name on the show, as a joke.

Kate, 47, joked about recent rumors, saying, ‘It’s true – Kate Ritchie isn’t being removed from the show! I think it’s because I’ve finally mastered spelling my own name, so I don’t need any reminders on buses.’

Kate said she’s ‘thrilled’ about making the move.

She said in a statement that she’s really enjoyed working with her co-hosts on the Sydney Breakfast show and is excited to bring the program to listeners across Australia.

Every morning, I’m up early preparing school lunches and getting the kids to school, which allows me to then broadcast and entertain our listeners during their evening commute. It’s a change that I think everyone will enjoy.

I was so thrilled to hear Wippa’s reaction – he’s always such a positive force! He put it perfectly when he said it was finally time to share what we’ve all been enjoying with everyone across the country. It really felt like a celebration!

Fitzy expressed his pride in the connection they’ve built with listeners in Sydney over the last 15 years, and shared his excitement about expanding to reach audiences across the country.

The changes will take place on Monday, February 9, 2026.

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2026-01-31 02:49