'Not happy': Fans react amid sad news around Tony Squires and Candice Warner
Fans are expressing their sadness after it was revealed on Saturday that long-running sports program 'The Back Page' has been axed after 29 years. Tony Squires, who has hosted the show on Fox Sports for the last 12 years, confirmed the sad news but admitted he wasn't surprised.
The sport talk-show has been running since 1997, but will wrap up for good after three more episodes. 'Ironically, I wrote a story in 2021 saying television shows don't usually last 25 years,' Squires told . 'They're like animals on the Savannah - very few of them die of old age.
'There's always something young and exciting with big nasty teeth, coming to get them. Well, The Back Page is now 29 years old, I've been hosting it for almost 13 years ... and we've been got. To be honest, it wasn't a shock.'
The late, great Mike Gibson was the show's first host back in 1997, and held the role up until 2012. Peter FitzSimons, Billy Birmingham, Tracey Holmes and Jeff Wells were the panellists when it first began, and in recent times it regularly featured journalist Robert Craddock, ironwoman Candice Warner, NRL legend Greg Alexander and AFL great Brad Johnson.
Warner, the wife of Aussie cricket great David, became a weekly panellist in 2022 and used the show as a launching pad for her burgeoning media career. Former AFL player-turned-radio host Ryan Fitzgerald was also a regular panellist, as were Socceroos legends Robbie Slater and Mark Bosnich.
'It's been a privilege to host a show once run by the legendary Mike Gibson,' said Squires, who's expected to stay on with Fox Sports in another role. 'But most of all it's been fun - like sitting at the pub with your mates pretending to know a shitload about sport.
'I'm going to miss it. Not because it was a job, but because it was my social life. I got to hang out with Kelli Underwood, Ryan Fitzgerald, Kerry O'Keeffe, Candice Warner, Brad Johnson, Ben Dixon and Robert Craddock - the most enthusiastic man on the planet.
'We've interviewed hundreds of sporting superstars over the years. From Rod Laver to Gout Gout – a 17-year-old kid who lit up the screen on his first live TV interview show just a few weeks ago.'
Fox Sports boss Steve Crawley said the decision to cut 'The Back Page' is not a cost-cutting move, denying it has anything to do with Foxtel's new owners DAZN. 'At Fox Sports we have introduced a number of new shows in recent times and we have more in final planning,' he said. 'The Back Page has been entertaining audiences for nearly three decades; there are very few shows that can claim that.
'Entertainment programming is a tough business in that it's like life itself, how everything has a lifespan. Even the great shows like 'Hey Hey It's Saturday' and 'The Back Page'. In a big country with different codes of football and unique tastes, it's extremely rare for a sports show to survive, let alone for almost 30 years.'
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Crawley commended Squires and the team that made the show so successful. 'Host Tony Squires, panellists Crash (Craddock) and Fitzy, Candice Warner and Kelli Underwood and producer Matt Parslow have put in so much hard work,' he said. 'We'll celebrate Back Page over the final three weekly episodes.'
Fans of the show took to social media on Saturday to express their sadness at hearing it's been axed. "Not happy at all about this decision," one person wrote. Another commented: "Great show. Looked forward to it every Tuesday. Can't believe it is ending."
The Back Page Australia's longest-running television sports show is closing down after 29 years. Only 3 more episodes to go.I liked it best when Gibbo was host & Billy Birmingham, Peter 'Chippy' Frilingos, Mike Coleman & David Hookes used to chew the sporting fat. Crash ok too. pic.twitter.com/6v3ldG39Ud
— OBBY (@OBBY001) June 7, 2025
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