Jane Reilly retires from FIVEaa – read her farewell message
She’s one of SA’s most beloved TV and radio presenters, but Jane Reilly has decided to call it quits on her 44-year career.
Confidential
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South Australian icon Jane Reilly is finally ready for her belated “gap year”.
After 44 years on local television and radio, Reilly, 64, has revealed she’s bringing her decorated media career to a close next month.
“Now that it’s out there, I can’t stop smiling. It’s something I’ve been sitting on for a long time,” she said.
“I just feel like I’ve done my bit. I feel like I’ve had a brilliant career, I can’t believe how wonderful it’s been.”
The beloved broadcaster who was Ten’s weather presenter for almost two decades, confirmed the decision to call it quits was entirely her own.
Now she's looking forward to a well-earned break from full-time work and will spend more time with family and friends, including her elderly parents and partner of eight years, Randall Sach, who also retired in June.
“I'm calling 2020 my big gap year. I never had a gap year … I finished teachers’ college in December 1975 and went straight to Ten,” Reilly said.
“I’m moving into a new era, a very exciting time. I’m going to enjoy some local travel next year. I’ve always been so busy.
“I’m just going to freewheel a bit. It's a real sense of liberation.”
A former pin-up model who was named Miss Australia Beach Girl 1974, Reilly moved into the media at the age of 20, joining Network Ten in Adelaide.
She spent the next 37 years on our TV screens with Ten and ABC, becoming the face of Ten’s news and weather for 17 years, picking up a Logie for Most Popular Female Personality in 1984.
In 2013, Reilly sought a new challenge and moved to FIVEaa’s breakfast radio show, which she co-hosted for three years. Since 2016, Reilly has been a regular contributor on the station’s top-rating early morning show with David Penberthy and Will Goodings.
“I never would have dreamt I’d have a career that would last 44 years and it would be my choosing to leave,” she said.
“I don’t really have any regrets.”
Reilly has also worked with charity groups over the years including Variety SA, Royal Society for the Blind and the Royal Flying Doctor Service, and was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in 2015 for her services to the broadcast media and charitable groups.
Her last day at FIVEaa will be December 13, but Reilly said she will remain around the station.
“I still want to do things but I don’t want the routine,” she said.
She added with a laugh: “I’ve basically told them anything that requires me getting up at 5am in the morning, do not call me!”