BBC legend Sally Taylor is stepping down after nearly four decades.
The veteran TV star, 68, has worked on the BBC’s South Today since 1987 and is the longest-running female presenter on a regional programme. But Thursday evening (March 20) will see her host the 6.30pm show for the last time.
Announcing her exit on BBC South, the broadcaster said: “I fell into television 40 years ago and never thought I’d still be doing it today, but the time has come to hand over the reins to someone else who I hope will cherish the job as much as I have.
“Being the presenter of a daily 6.30pm BBC Regional Programme is one of the best jobs in television. South Today has given me opportunities that would never have been possible anywhere else and I’m so grateful for that.
(Image: BBC)
She added: “At the heart of everything we do is the relationship with our audience, I feel very honoured that they have shared and trusted me to tell their stories. It’s been wonderful.”
Sally told her South Today co-star and friend Roger Finn that it was the “right time” to leave the programme. During a discussion about her exit, she said: “I have to say, the decision was the most stressful thing.
“Once I’d made that decision, well it was amazing, I woke up in the middle of the night and I thought ‘what’s that feeling’, and I suddenly realised it was the weight off my shoulders.”
(Image: BBC)
Asked what it was like being in the public eye for almost four decades, she said: “I just treat everybody how they treat me. I’m just a normal person doing a normal job. I sometimes think I’m so lucky to have found something that I can do well and feel that I can do well and enjoy it.
She added: “People find endings difficult, but I look at them and I see a new beginning.” Roger said of her career and decision to leave: “Bravo.”
During her incredible broadcasting career, Sally has covered it all, including 10 general elections, reports from Bosnia at the end of the war, and broadcasts from Antarctica after travelling there with HMS Endurance.
Peter Cook, the senior head of content production for BBC South, hailed Taylor as a “broadcasting legend”. He wrote: “She’s had an incredible career at the BBC and earned the respect and affection of our viewers who have trusted her to tell them what’s happening and why. She’s a talented broadcaster, a brilliant journalist, and a great colleague.”
Jason Horton, director of production for BBC Local, said: “Her class in the studio or on location, her sheer hard work in preparing for the programme, and her eye for the stories that really connect with the South Today audience, is unrivalled.
“Sally has always wanted more for the viewer and encouraged us all on that mission, whether we were reporters or producers, editors or senior leaders,” adding: “She has also mentored countless colleagues, supporting the next generation of journalists and broadcasters.”
The journalist joined South Today in 1987 after working at Spotlight, a regional news programme for the south west of England. Before she was a journalist, she was an English teacher at Winstanley Community College in Leicester.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
