Merrick Watts will fill in for Beau Ryan on Triple M Sydney’s Breakfast show, as Ryan takes time out to film the latest season of Channel 10’s The Amazing Race.

Ryan, who co-hosts Triple M Breakfast with Beau & Woodsy alongside fellow former NRL player Aaron Woods, will be off the Sydney airwaves for several weeks.

This morning Ryan told listeners “Now, let’s just get it out of the way, right? I’m going away for a bit, put it that way. Got to do some time overseas, film some shows.”

“I got asked by Triple M, who do you want to replace you?  So I go to Cat (anchor Cat Lynch, pictured above with Ryan and Woods), obviously everything reports back to Cat and she said, ‘You can make this decision’.”

Subsequently, Watts will be taking over the chair.

Of his fill-in role, Watts said “It’s great to be here, and you are in safe hands. I don’t know if you know this, but my nickname on radio is scorched earth, so I reckon you’ll be fine. When you come back in four weeks, everything will be exactly as you left it.”

Ryan declined to tell the team which countries they’d be in for the new series of The Amazing Race, but confirmed he’ll be calling into the show whenever he can.

“Look after the team, I love ya and thank you,” he said to Watts.

Ryan’s temporary departure comes less than two weeks after his Breakfast radio co-host Natarsha Belling announced she was stepping away from the show, which officially launched in January.

Triple M Breakfast with Beau & Woodsy can be heard on 104.9 Triple M Sydney from 6am to 9am and on LiSTNR. Merrick joins the team, alongside anchor Cat Lynch from Monday.