Leigh Sales didn’t want to overshadow Kerry O’Brien’s final election night
Given that tomorrow is Kerry O'Brien's final election hosting, Leigh Sales opted not to appear in his shadow.
- Published by David Knox
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- Filed under News
This week there were reports that Leigh Sales had declined a role on ABC’s election coverage night.
Rival news bosses even weighed in on ABC having Kerry O’Brien as host rather than the current 7:30 anchor, describing it as “baffling” and “bizarre and indulgent.” Others asked online if there was some sort of backstage rivalry.
But today The Guardian reports that when O’Brien stepped down as host of the former 7:30 Report, his contract stipulated he would continue as the voice and face of the ABC’s election night.
Now after 30 years and 10 federal elections, the semi-retired O’Brien has reportedly made it clear to colleagues that this will be the last time he hosts the broadcaster’s election night coverage.
Leigh Sales opted out of the broadcast rather than appearing in his shadow.
Few have also reported that Sales is also appearing tonight on 7:30 as well as fronting a special 1 hour News bulletin on Sunday. Election day looks like being, in effect, her only day off.
ABC’s election coverage will also include Annabel Crabb, Tony Jones and Antony Green and full broadcast details can be found here.
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3 Responses
I never even considered the notion of Leigh heading up the coverage. Kerry and Antony are institutions for this event and i probably predicted that Leigh and Tony Jones would play a role as well on the desk. There is an argument surely that Jones is the next in line for the gig.
I’ll be watching 9 and taping the Project and watch it back later fast forwarding all the boring bits.
There’s really no choice of which network to watch -the ABC for the serious stuff and The Project on Ten for a bit of fun along the way.