The newest breakfast program on TV has claimed its first casualty. Natasha Exelby has been dumped by Network Ten’s “Wake Up” just 16 days after the show launched on air.

“Network Ten today announced Natasha Exelby has departed its breakfast television program Wake Up,” the announcement reads. “Wake Up will continue to be hosted by Natarsha Belling and James Mathison, with Nuala Hafner presenting local news for every state. Ms Exelby will remain with Network Ten’s News division.”

The channel’s direction of morning television, Adam Boland, explained that he had gotten the chemistry wrong.

“I have said repeatedly that chemistry is everything at breakfast and, right now, I don’t think the balance is correct. It’s up to producers to fix those things.”

He continued, “I rate Natasha, Natarsha, and James extremely highly individually, otherwise they wouldn’t have been there in the first place. I also saw genuine spark during show rehearsals, but sometimes, that doesn’t translate on air. That is nobody’s fault, except mine.”

The network was hoping that “Wake Up” will revive its dismal morning ratings after the short-lived “Breakfast” in 2012. However, even with a highly publicised launch and a fresh format, “Wake Up” failed to get people to watch. After a lacklustre premiere on November 4, it continues to lose viewers, averaging only 52,000 viewers nationally.

Three days after the show’s launch, Boland went on indefinite sick leave, with reports claiming that he has been “struggling mentally” when the breakfast program continues to dip in ratings.

Being fired from the show didn’t appear to diminish Exelby’s sense of humour, though.

She tweeted, “Thank U 2 everyone 4 ur kind words. I’ve enjoyed a long & lustrous career in breakfast TV. How time flies! It seems like only 16 days ago :)”

In June, she attracted media attention when she caught a “case of the giggles” while reading serious international news in which people have been injured and killed. Her co-anchor Mat Doran was trying to set her up with “best job in the world” winner Allan Dixon, and she good naturedly replied with light flirtation.

Unfortunately, she was about to read serious news. She wasn’t able to keep a straight face while she was reading about violent events around the world. She apologised later on for her conduct.

Wake Up