It’s one of Australia most iconic and longest-running variety shows.
But the cast of Hey Hey It’s Saturday have had their fair share of controversies and tragedies over the past few years.
From singer Kamahl being charged with stalking to host Daryl Somers launching legal action against Channel 7, the stars have certainly remained in the spotlight.
Most recently, John Blackman, who voiced legendary characters including Dickie Knee, Angel, Mrs Macgillicuddy, Alfred Desk Mike and Charlie Who, died at the age of 76.
The Australian radio star passed away after a heart attack on Tuesday, according to The Morning Show’s celebrity reporter Peter Ford.
John’s death comes just months after he opened up about his gruelling cancer battle, which saw him undergo a 12-hour operation in 2018 to remove his jaw.
In 2022, John faced a second battle when he was diagnosed with brain cancer, which was removed with a six-hour operation that left a titanium mesh plate in his head.
Not long before his passing, John was thought to have been told he had to return to hospital for more surgery this year after his cancer had devastatingly come back.
He is believed to have died from a heart attack and is survived by his wife Cecile, who he married in December 1972, and his daughter Tiffany, 28.
Earlier this year, John bravely opened up about his cancer battle and surgery, which saw him have his jaw removed.
The presenter was first diagnosed with a severe case of skin cancer known as a basal cell carcinoma in August 2018.
The ‘really aggressive’ cancer was discovered on a routine trip to his doctor to see about an inflamed pimple.
Later that same year, John had a massive 12-hour operation to remove the cancerous growth on his mouth, and his jaw was substituted with a portion of his thigh bone.
In January 2024, he told how his life changed after the operation, which removed the cancerous tumour but meant he couldn’t work in front of a microphone again.
‘When I went to my surgeon to get the results of the test he said, “Look, John, your life is going to change completely from now on”,’ he told the Herald Sun.
‘Professionally, financially, emotionally, it is never going to be the same again. You will never work in front of a mic again.’
He bravely told how the gruelling operation couldn’t rob him of his well-known sense of humour despite changing his career.
‘Everything the surgeon said has come true. Even now talking to you, it is painful. I can’t do what I love,’ John went on.
‘Thankfully, I still have my sense of humour, they did not remove that.’
Just years later in 2022, John faced a second battle when he was diagnosed with brain cancer and had to undergo another life-saving operation.
Another growth had sprouted ‘in a crater’ a result of one of the removal procedures, and started to move towards his brain.
John admitted the cancer could have ‘killed’ him and he had a six-hour surgery to remove the ‘aggressive’ tumour and was left with a titanium mesh plate in his head.
‘That was the one that could have actually killed me, because it was a very aggressive cancer (Squamous Cell Carcinoma) that was growing right on the top of my noggin,’ he said.
His death comes just months after entertainment icon Kamahl, whose real name is Kandiah Kamalesvaran, was charged with stalking a woman 50 years his junior.
The alleged victim, a 39-year-old woman, has applied for an apprehended violence order against the 89-year-old singer over allegations that he threatened her after lending her $2,000 to start a business in May last year.
Kamahl sent the woman the money after making an agreement with her over dinner that she would repay him $5 a week.
A dispute allegedly arose when she used a derogatory epithet in her transaction description, leading to a flurry of text messages between the woman and Kamahl.
He was charged with stalking with intent to cause fear and the woman applied for an apprehended violence order against him.
The veteran entertainer’s lawyer Bobby Hill faced Sutherland Local Court on Wednesday, where he foreshadowed a section 14 application to dismiss the charge on the grounds of his client’s mental health.
He told the court there was a ‘large amount of medical material’ to be considered during the mental health hearing, which has been set down for October 14.
The mental health application hearing is expected to run for less than half an hour.
If the mental health application is unsuccessful, Mr Hill told the court the singer would plead not guilty to the intimidation charge.
A hearing would take place on November 25 and run for two hours, the court heard.
Meanwhile, Hey hey host Daryl is taking legal action against Channel 7 after he was removed as the host of Dancing With The Stars.
The Australian TV legend, 72, claimed the network is in breach of his copyright.
The lawsuit revolves around the network’s use of footage featuring a John Farnham performance on Hey Hey It’s Saturday.
Daryl, who was succeeded by Seven’s new star, Dr. Chris Brown, as the co-host of Dancing, had his departure from the show confirmed during Seven’s 2024 programming presentation on October 18 last year.
On October 17, his company, Somers Enterprises Australia, initiated legal proceedings in the Federal Court, asserting that the Seven Network violated copyright by using unapproved footage of Farnham singing ‘My Yiddeshe Mama’ alongside Tom Jones on a 1990 episode of Hey Hey It’s Saturday.
According to court documents, Somers Enterprises Australia, directed by both Daryl and his wife Julie, has held the copyright to the long-standing Australian variety television program since 2010.
The company also operates the online subscription streaming platform heyhey.tv, where viewers can access archived content from the show.
Seven Network utilised this footage in a Spotlight program special titled ‘John Farnham: The Lost Tapes,’ which was broadcast on August 6, 2023, and made available on its streaming platform, 7Plus.
Following a complaint from Somers’ team, Seven allegedly initially denied any copyright infringement but subsequently removed the episode from its online platforms.
In the Statement of Claim submitted by Somers Enterprises Australia, the argument is presented that Seven Network had the opportunity to seek permission to use the footage but failed to do so.
‘Prior to airing the broadcast of the Seven Program, a representative of (Seven) contacted SEA (Somers Enterprises Australia) to ask whether Mr Somers was willing to be interviewed for the … program; (Seven) had the opportunity to seek a licence for the use of the Copyright Works, but did not do so,’ read the document.
It is claimed that Daryl’s company has incurred losses and damages as a result of Seven Network’s unauthorised use of the footage.
The losses claimed include ‘damage to SEA’s commercial reputation by broadcasting and streaming inferior quality footage of the performance.’
The document also suggests profit loss for heyhey.tv because ‘people who would have paid to subscribe…will not do so because they viewed the performance for free on the Seven program.’
Hey Hey It’s Saturday ran for 28 years on the Nine Network from 1971 to 1999, before returning for special episodes in 2009.
A new season of 20 episodes was commissioned in 2010, but the variety program did not return in 2011.
During its run, Hey Hey It’s Saturday had its fair share of controversy and was recently called out for its racially insensitive segments involving Kamahl.
In 2020, TV veteran Daryl was criticised for performing Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World in blackface on the show in the 1980s.
Another incident in 2009 involved a comedy troupe dressed up as the Jackson Five in blackface for Hey Hey’s regular Red Faces talent show segment.
American singer Harry Connick Jr. was a guest judge on the program and gave the performance a score of zero, saying he never would have appeared on the show if he had known it would involve blackface.
Daryl apologised to Harry at the end of the live segment, saying: ‘We may have offended you with that act and I deeply apologise on behalf of all of us.
‘Because I know that to your countrymen, that’s an insult to have a blackface routine like that on the show, so I do apologise to you.’
Harry responded: ‘I know it was done humorously, but we’ve spent so much time trying to not make black people look like buffoons that when we see something like that we take it really to heart.
‘I feel like I am at home here and if I knew that was going to be part of the show, I probably, I definitely, wouldn’t have done it.’
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