Sarah-Jane Mee to replace Eamonn Holmes as anchor of Sky Sunrise
Eamonn announced he was leaving at the start of this month after 11 years
Sarah-Jane Mee is set to replace Eamonn Holmes as anchor of Sky Sunrise - after he quit the show after more than a decade at the start of this month.
Jonathan Samuels, senior correspondent for Sky News, has been appointed the 38-year-old's co-host.
They will be broadcasting from a new state of the art studio at the heart of Sky’s campus in Osterley, West London, where they will be joined by sports presenter, Jacquie Beltrao and weather presenters, Isobel Lang and Nazaneen Ghaffar.
Discussing her new role, she said: “I'm so excited about returning to the Sunrise hotseat; taking over from Eamonn is a real honour and I feel privileged that I will be starting the day with Sunrise viewers around the UK and beyond. Live news is always such a thrill, you never know where the morning will take you and I looking forward to finding out.”
Sarah-Jane began her career at Sky, starting as a runner for Sky Sports before moving to ITV to become a sports reporter and presenter in the Midlands. There she hosted sports shows Central Soccer Night, Hancock’s Half Time and Pulling Power.
After co-hosting the breakfast show on Heart FM in the Midlands she returned to Sky in 2008.
She has been working for Sky News and Sky Sports ever since including fronting Saturday Night Football and Cricket AM on Sky Sports and regularly presenting across the Sky News schedule including a stint as lead presenter on Sunrise earlier this year.
John Ryley, Head of Sky News, commented: ‘‘I am delighted that Sarah-Jane is to anchor Sunrise. She's enjoying a stellar career here at Sky and will bring a fresh outlook to Sunrise, combining a lightness of touch with sharp journalistic nous; I know she will excel in her new role.”
Sarah-Jane and Jonathan will be on air from Monday 17th October.
Stephen Dixon will continue to host Sunrise Friday through to Sunday alongside co-host Isabel Webster.
Eamonn Holmes announced he was leaving what he described as his 'dream job' at the start of this month.
Breaking the news on Facebook, he wrote: “Anchoring my own breakfast show for 11 years has been for me the stuff of boyhood dreams. It was the job I hoped to do as a young Belfast lad – and because of Sky News I got there!
“Forty five years plus on I have other dreams, and to achieve them I realise that unfortunately I need to step away from the daily studio commitment for a while.
“There is an addiction to a live breaking news studio environment.However, after more than 3,000 hours of programming it is a habit I have to suppress.
“Increasingly in life I have found myself in the fortunate position of having so much to do but little time to do it. This seems an opportune moment to change that.”
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