Australia is inching closer to finding its new Bondi Vet with the finalists announced on the show’s website. While we’re still in disbelief that Dr Chris Brown would abandon us and feel no-one could ever replace him, it appears Channel 10 do not share our sentiments as they have whittled it down to five replacement hopefuls.
Back in March it was announced Dr Chris Brown would be leaving the show to focus on his other TV commitments with The Living Room and I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here. In order to soften the blow and find a suitable replacement the nation would be happy with, WTFN Entertainment – the creators of Bondi Vet – announced it would run a competition where vets around the country could be nominated to be the new star of Bondi Vet. From 400 entries, the best 50 nominees were chosen with the public asked to vote for their favourite via the show’s website. This vote counted toward one of the final five, with WTFN Entertainment deciding the remaining four.
So who are these everyday vets who may soon be entering our living rooms every week? Let’s meet them…
1. Dr Peter Ricci
Peter is the lucky man who won the public vote. He currently works as a vet at Perth Zoo and The Animal Hospital at Murdoch University – in-between volunteering to help provide veterinary care to remote communities that is. While he loves all animals, birds are his favourite with the humble budgie the best of them all in his eyes.
2. Dr Alex Hynes
Alex works for the Animal Emergency Service in Brisbane. She’s passionate about saving rescue animals and currently has number of dogs and cat called Silver, all of which she has rescued or adopted when they were adults.
“The opportunity to show the future generation of girls what’s possible, and what we’re achieving in veterinary medicine is something I dream of,” Alex said in her nomination video.
3. Dr Anthony Cassimatis
Puppy-obsessed Anthony works SuperVets Manly on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. Aside from having one of the most hilarious nominations videos which puts him as the frontrunner in our eyes, he’s also extremely active so you can expect plenty more running on the beach shots should he take out the role.
4. Dr Lewis Hunt
Lewis just works down the road from Anthony at Collaroy Plateau Veterinary Clinic on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. He certainly shares a likeness to Dr Chris Brown and in his audition video comes across rather down-to-earth and softly spoken, but other than that we don’t know much about him!
5. Dr Danni Dusek
Danni works at Mentone Veterinary Hospital in Melbourne, but before she attended Vet School she had an agent and worked as an actor/singer – so this role would combine her two loves. She has two dog, Willow and Bear, and her brother-in-law is TV and radio presenter Jules Lund.
The eventual winner will be announced in early August, however it is not known when filming will resume for the new series. Be warned though, the show may look a little different as WTFN Entertainment has already stated on Facebook that the show might not be set in Bondi in the future if the “right person” is secured.
