Stirring Up Station Buzz! Audrey’s Wakabayashi’s Remark Sparks Rumors of Mami Mizuto’s Freelance Transition – What’s the Reason?

There was an incident that caused a stir at the station regarding NTV announcer Mami Mizuto, 36, who is the absolute ace of the station and number one in terms of likability in the TV industry. The reason was that Masayasu Wakabayashi, 45, a member of the comedy duo Audrey, mistakenly thought that Mizuto was going independent.

Wakabayashi and his partner Toshiaki Kasuga (45) talked about the program’s 15th anniversary event held at Tokyo Dome on February 18 on “Audrey’s All Night Nippon,” a Nippon Broadcasting System broadcast late at night on February 24.

During the discussion, he shared a story about how Anna Mizuto-chan came to greet him backstage. Mito came in and suddenly sat down on the floor in the dressing room. I thought, “What? I thought, “What? I thought, “Is she going to be a freelancer? I wondered if I was going to be a freelancer. In the end, she was only sitting on the floor to ask for his autograph for a book about the show, but Wakabayashi murmured, “He was acting so strange.

Mizuto and Wakabayashi have worked together on several programs, including the late-night program “The Forest at Midnight. The fact that even Wakabayashi thought that Mizuto had the potential to become a freelancer was brought to light in this talk.

Some of the media reported Wakabayashi’s comments, and there are whispers within Nippon TV that “even Wakabayashi-san, who is close to Mizuto-anana, thinks that he does not know when he will go freelance. I’m not sure if that’s true or not.

Frankly speaking, it would be painful if Mizuto, who is overwhelmingly popular, left the station. However, there are a number of reasons why it would not be surprising if she were to go independent, and it seems that some executives at the station are starting to get nervous.

Mizuto, who joined the company in 2010, has become popular for her pretty good looks and cheerful character who professes to be a glutton. She has shown her ability in such programs as “Hirunandesu! She was inducted into the “Favorite Female Announcer Ranking” by ORICON NEWS, ranking first for five consecutive years from 2001 to 2005. Although there have been frequent rumors of her “independence theory,” she denied it on “Mami Mizuto’s All Night Nippon 0 (ZERO),” a special radio program broadcast in October 2009, saying, “I have never said (that I would become independent ).

However, since last year, the possibility of going freelance has come up again, along with a number of “grounds” for such a move. This was triggered by her announcement of her marriage to actor Nakamura Rinya (37) in March of the same year.

Mizuto is supposed to be enjoying her newlywed life, but she has become an indispensable “face of the morning” as the general presenter of the information program “ZIP! He wakes up before dawn every day, which makes it difficult for him and his wife to spend time together. In September of last year, he missed eight consecutive broadcast days due to health problems, and there were concerns about his mental and physical exhaustion as well as his departure from the company.

What is believed to have further affected the situation is the recent “rush of station announcers leaving the company. At Nippon TV, Rina Sasazaki left in December of last year. Takahiko Fujii and Satoshi Ueshige will also become freelance announcers at the end of March this year.

At NHK, Minoru Aoi left the station in February and will become the anchor of “Live News It! (Fuji Television Network) in April. (Fuji Television Network) in April. Reports of female announcers going independent at other stations, including TV Tokyo, are continuing, and it is impossible not to be stimulated by this situation. There is also concern within the station over the fact that Taichi Masu, a senior announcer whom Mizuto had looked up to, left the station in March 2010, leaving her with no one to rely on. There is no doubt that she is seriously considering her future after her marriage.

In fact, Mizuto is said to be the “last big thing” that the entertainment industry and other stations are eagerly waiting for.

The market is saturated with people switching to freelance work, but Mizuto and NHK’s ace Maho Kuwako are in a class of their own. I have heard that several entertainment professionals have unofficially approached them about becoming independent with unbeatable conditions.

At new program programming meetings of private key stations, there is often a proposal for Mizuto-chan, saying, ‘We want her at any cost.’ If she goes freelance, she will be able to choose her work, have more time to spend with her new husband, and her salary will probably increase dramatically.

On the other hand, Nippon TV is also believed to be making moves to “not let her quit” because the damage would be too great if the station’s “signature” were to be leaked.

Mizuto was promoted to the position of “chief,” a key position in the announcements department, in June of last year, an unusually fast rise in the ranks, and many believe that this is part of the station’s “generous” treatment of her in an attempt to retain her at the station. It seems that the station plans to create a favorable environment for him to stay at the station by accelerating his promotion.

What will the top announcer, who is now in her late 30s and a wife, ultimately decide? It is likely that the “sense of caution” within the station over her departure will continue.

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