Kyle Sandilands has been doing his best to help promote the second season of Luxe Listings Sydney, the real estate show he helped develop featuring Sydney’s hottest real estate agents selling Sydney’s hottest properties.
He was on hand to MC the Amazon Australian Original series two launch recently. In his own direct way, he described how much he likes the new episodes.
“I was most impressed with the overall look of the show and the properties. I didn’t give a fuck if anybody bought the house or not,” Sandilands told Mediaweek.
The key elements of the series are the properties and the people who sell them. The outcome matters, but it’s not the main drawcard.
Over the years the radio host and TV judge has dabbled in various businesses. When Sandilands gets behind a project though he invests both money and energy. “I don’t think I do that many things now. But when I have ownership of something it is a very different ball game. It is not like showing up to work and taking a paycheque. I am very invested in the success of Luxe Listings Sydney.”
Luxe Listings Sydney goes international
Sandilands added: “It’s been great news for us a production company that there will now be a season three plus they are going to start international versions. We realise there are many real estate shows out there, but we wanted to do something with a Sydney spin so viewers would get a feel for the city and see its beauty. It’s not just about the houses. In the good US series about property, they really convey the feeling of the city. We were very aware though that sometimes programs can be lazy and not really capture the excitement of a place.
Luxe Listings Sydney’s A team: agents D’Leanne Lewis, Simon Cohen, Monika Tu, Gavin Rubinstein
“Bruno Bouchet [MD of King Kyle, Kyle’s manager and biographer, former K&J Show EP] and I have both been very particular to emphasise what we needed to capture. We wanted to make sure things like the drone shots were not rushed and that if we were filming on what was a shit day, we should pack it up and film on a better day.
“Amazon has been great and they have given us a good budget. I am telling people we have gone Thor. Luxe Listings Sydney is becoming a real franchise. It’s what everyone dreams of.”
Sandilands said that previously what he and Bouchet would do in TV was limited to Kyle’s work on other people’s projects. “It took me some time to realise that there were people like us hiring other people project by project. We are involved in joint ventures now with people on different projects. With Luxe Listings Sydney we partnered with Kentel and Eureka and they are the people on the ground shooting the day-to-day action.”
As to future projects, Sandilands didn’t want to reveal too much. “We have a few irons in the fire,” was all he’d say.
His production business runs under the King Kyle banner. “We know so many people in the industry now, but we understand you can’t just pick anyone. You must choose the right people for the right project.”
Letting his guard slip a little Sandilands revealed future projects include cryptocurrency and he was interested in a reality series on Sydney Harbour. “When we saw the episodes of Below Deck in the Whitsundays, we decided to put ours on the back burner.”
As Mediaweek reported recently, Sandilands and Bouchet have taken meetings with all the TV networks. “They have all asked what we could make for them. We are not going to get carried away that we might be the flavour of the month. We would rather have a small dance card and do quality work over a long time. We don’t want to rush something and make a dud because we’ll soon be known as the dud brigade.”
Kyle Sandilands and Teagan Kynaston
Some of the networks are interested in Sandilands being involved on-screen, but he’s told Bouchet that’s not something he’s really interested in. “If they rang up and asked me to do Australian Idol I’d say yes because it’s fun and easy.
“I have a baby on the way now and I have different commitments.”
Sandilands said he feels more responsibility creeping into his life as he’s about to become a parent. “When Tegan became pregnant I would do things like crying sometimes while watching TV and I was wondering what was going on. I hid it from her for a while, but now when I tell her she doesn’t even look up at me if she’s on the phone.
“I need to make sure that the King Kyle back end is set up properly. Before when it was just me, I didn’t really care. Know I care about all sorts of things including my health.”
We wondered if after two seasons so far with Sydney’s best agents, if they had managed to sell Sandilands a home. Not yet. “They are always sending possible homes for me to buy. I have just bought some big old mansion on acreage out west. We are going to turn it into a Hamptons style home. I haven’t quite managed to get Tegan out of the eastern suburbs yet and away from the synagogue.
“In the past I didn’t want to lock down anywhere because I wanted to be able to go and live in LA for a few years or maybe London. I didn’t want to be handcuffed to the dream home.”
Kyle and reality TV shows
“I have been asked to go on every show…with the possible exception of Dancing with the Stars,” Sandilands told Mediaweek. “Bruno just doesn’t ask me anymore because he knows there is no way I’d do them. I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! is the most persistent and they have offered big money. The show offered me $1m and said I could even smoke if I needed to. I said no way, but Bruno reminded me, ‘That’s a lot of fucking money.’ It was when they were in Africa, but I knocked it back.”
Australian Amazon Original reality docu-series Luxe Listings Sydney
Created by: Benjamin Scott, James Kennedy
Executive producers: Benjamin Scott, James Kennedy, Chris Culvenor, Paul Franklin, Rikkie Proost, Evan Wilkes, Jake Hargreaves, Anastassia Gerakas