EXCLUSIVE
Channel Seven is about to announce it has pulled off a major coup after luring Eddie McGuire’s son to defect from Nine as it continues to pursue its rival’s brightest stars.
Daily Mail Australia can reveal that Xander McGuire, 21, the eldest son of Eddie and his wife, financial advisor Carla, will take on an expanded role in Seven’s news and sports divisions in a bid to further destabilize Nine.
Xander, who has already agreed a deal with Seven, established himself as one of Nine’s most promising talents after joining the network in 2022, with sports presenter Tony Jones describing him as “the best young reporter I’ve seen in almost 40 years.”
It is understood Seven had planned to reveal its latest star signing in Melbourne’s Herald Sun newspaper on Wednesday, in a move that will send shockwaves through the football-mad city, where the McGuire clan are considered media and entertainment royalty. soccer.
It comes just days after Seven secured the services of Eddie McGuire to produce two new Aussie Rules talk shows for the 2025 season in a deal that will also pit him against his long-term home at Nine.
It is understood that one of the shows, to be made by McGuire’s production company JAM TV, will be called Sunday Footy Feast and will take on Nine’s former Sunday Footy Show.
The second show, The Wash, is scheduled to air after Seven’s live, exclusive football coverage on Sunday afternoons.
Seven has already decimated Nine’s Footy Classified program by targeting star presenters Kane Cornes, Caroline Wilson and Craig Hutchison this year, while also convincing St Kilda legend and former Fox Sports presenter Nick Riewoldt to sign on. came out of retirement and returned to television.
Seven has pulled off a major coup after convincing rising star Xander McGuire to defect from arch-rival Nine while also securing the services of his famous father Eddie McGuire.
Xander, 21, was described by Nine Sports presenter Tony Jones as “the best young reporter I have seen in almost 40 years”.
Xander and his brother Joe have grown up in the spotlight alongside their famous father, Eddie, and mother, Carla.
Xander’s poaching will cause even more headaches for Nine as it continues to deal with the fallout from its disastrous external investigation into the network’s “toxic” work culture while seeking further aggressive cost-cutting.
Xander has been something of a Melbourne celebrity since he was old enough to attend Collingwood football games with his famous father more than two decades ago, as well as red carpet events with his mother Carla and brother Joe.
She’s also had plenty of experience in front of the camera, landing her first TV job on Ten soap Neighbors in 2015 when she was just 12 years old.
The young actor became a series regular as troubled teenager Charlie Hoyland, son of Carla Bonner’s character Steph Scully, before deciding to follow in his father’s footsteps and turn his attention to sports reporting.
The award-winning prodigy took a six-month sabbatical from his sports reporting duties in May so he could complete the political component of his arts degree from the University of Melbourne at the University of St Andrews in Scotland.
Although he indicated he was looking forward to reuniting with Nine after completing his onboard study tour, last month Daily Mail Australia revealed he had already been in talks with Seven about jumping ship.
Xander has been a regular on Australian television since landing a role as Charlie Hoyland on soap opera Neighbors almost a decade ago when he was just 12 years old.
The McGuire boys, Joe and Xander, regularly attended Collingwood football matches as children, while their father, Eddie, reigned as club president for more than two decades.
Joe McGuire now kicks goals as a punter at Ohio State University in the United States.
His father Eddie began his television career at Ten as a young sports reporter in the 1980s before joining Nine in 1993 and later hosting Who Wants to be a Millionaire and enjoying a brief spell as Nine’s chief executive in 2006.
Although he admits that he brought his son to the Neighbors screen test, he said that he was not involved in the casting and that Xander “did this all on his own and on merit.”
While Eddie and Xander have a natural ability to talk football, Joe McGuire has had more success playing it.
The talented athlete signed this year with one of the top college football teams in the United States, Ohio State University.
Known as the Buckeyes, the top-tier team has won eight national championships and regularly competes in front of more than 100,000 fans in their home stadium.
Joe McGuire, who weighs an imposing 96kg and stands 188cm tall, joined as back-up to fellow Australian punter Jesse Mirco in July.