League: Paul Vautin breaks silence on 'Footy Show' axing after 23 years

Darryl Brohman, Beau Ryan, Erin Molan and Paul Vautin pose with the Logie Award for Best Sports Program in Melbourne last year. Photo / Getty Images

Paul Vautin has broken his silence following Tuesday's revelations he was being axed from Nine's NRL Footy Show after 23 years on the set.

The man nicknamed 'Fatty' responded to a message from WSFM's Brendan Jones this morning.

Vautin is currently on a family holiday in the US.

Jones said he had reached out to Vautin last night after hearing Nine were ditching him in favour of having Erin Molan lead the network's struggling NRL program.

"In the end nothing lasts forever," Vautin wrote to Jones.

"I had a great run, especially for a short, chubby, red-head who played for both Manly and Queensland.

"That's not a career, that's a miracle."

In a switch seen as raising the stakes in the fight with Fox Sports for female footy fans, Molan will be groomed as the replacement for Vautin, who will be restricted to Nine commentary box ­duties at live NRL games in 2018.

The Daily Telegraph on Tuesday revealed the Footy Show will be expanded next year to broadcast in a new timeslot on Monday night, then Thursday night and Sunday lunchtime.

The move to replace 58-year-old Vautin and promote Molan is a tactical manoeuvre by the network to win back female fans who have deserted the Footy Show and switched to Fox Sports, where former Nine presenter ­Yvonne Sampson heads up an ­impressive line-up of women presenters.

The ratings for the show have slipped to an all-time low this year, often to as bad as 80,000 viewers compared to the halcyon days when it regularly pulled in ­audiences of around 370,000.

The futures of the show's current stars remain uncertain.

The highest paid panellist - Beau Ryan - still has two years to run on his contract.

Vautin and Molan are both free agents at the end of the 2018 season while Darryl Brohman is off contract now.

Long-time executive producer Glenn Pallister is also moving on.

The show is now under the care of Director of Sport Tom Malone instead of light entertainment.