Sarah Harris to replace The Project host Carrie Bickmore on Channel 10

A veteran television anchor has been announced as The Project’s new host, replacing popular outgoing presenter Carrie Bickmore.

Sarah Harris has stepped up to prime time, replacing Carrie Bickmore and Lisa Wilkinson on The Project.

The Studio 10 mornings host made the announcement live on-air days after Wilkinson announced her departure from The Sunday Project and the morning after comedian Pete Helliar revealed he too was leaving the show.

Journalist Georgie Tunny will host The Project on Friday nights with Waleed Aly to return to the news and current affairs panel show in 2023. Hamish Macdonald will co-host alongside Tunny on Sunday nights.

“This is one of the biggest and best jobs in TV. How could I say no?” Harris said.

“I’m beyond excited to be joining one of Australia’s most iconic and agenda driving shows. The Project does news like no other program in Australia and it’s exactly the kind of fun and fearless TV I love to make.

Carrie Bickmore announced her departure from The Project last month. Picture: Instagram

Studio 10 host Sarah Harris has been announced as Bickmore’s replacement on The Project.

“I can’t wait to share the desk with Waleed, Hamish, Georgie and the rest of the team. I’m excited to shake it up in the new year.”

Harris told the Studio 10 audience Bickmore had already reached out to her and acknowledged they were “big shoes to fill”. “It was a hard decision to make because I love this show. I’m terrified... I hope I don’t stuff it up”, she said.

Mother of two Harris, 41, brings more than 20 years journalism experience to the role. Before Studio 10, she worked at both Nine and Seven networks on shows ranging from Nine News to Today Tonight.

Carrie Bickmore, Lisa Wilkinson and Pete Helliar have all announced they will leave The Project. Pictured with Waleed Aly (far left). Picture: Channel 10

Harris has previously appeared on The Project as a fill-in host.

“She’s smart. She’s warm. She’s great fun. That’s the trifecta for The Project,” Aly said of Harris.

“Everyone who’s worked with Sarah raves about her, and I can’t wait to become one of them.”

The Project executive producer Chris Bendall said: “Sarah is a journalist and presenter at the top of her game and I am so excited to work with her. Her intelligence, insight and sense of humour makes her the perfect host for The Project as we launch a re-energised show for 2023.

“The Project’s unique blend of news and entertainment is its strength and with Sarah joining Waleed on the desk we will keep delivering the show viewers have come to know and trust.”

It has undoubtedly been a huge week for The Project, with musical chairs playing out on the panel and ongoing industry speculation over the future of the show and its hosts.

The Project launched to market in 2009, providing an alternative to the traditional news formats with the panel-style show.

It has proved popular with younger audiences and is the youngest skewing news and current affairs show on Aussie television.

Sarah Harris will join Waleed Aly on The Project.

OzTAM figures show some 49 per cent of The Project’s audience is under 50, compared to about half that for the traditional news shows on rival networks.

Bickmore will film her final episode with The Project on November 30 with Harris to join the show in the new year.

Helliar will finish up the following week.

“These things come in threes and it’s time for me to say goodbye, I will be leaving The Project soon,” Helliar said on-air Tuesday.

“This has been something on my mind for a while, people will read the situation however they want to read into it but I feel like I need to create space for some projects I want to work on.

“I’ve been able to juggle over the years, you guys have seen me do ‘How to Stay Married’ and stand up and books over the years but I feel like there’s some new areas I’m going into hopefully next year that I need to be present for. I want to be somebody, a creator who is leaving meetings to juggle other meetings so I need to be present for that.”

Georgia Tunny will host The Project on Friday and Sunday nights.

Wilkinson finished her The Project duties after making her announcement on Sunday, but will return to Ten in 2023 in other roles.

“Sitting at this desk and working with this incredible team both in front of and behind the camera has been an absolute privilege,” Wilkinson said on Sunday.

“These people are genuinely some of the most talented and decent humans I know and you, our passionate engaged audience, have been so kind in making me feel so welcome in your homes,” she said.

She reiterated she was not leaving Channel 10, but said the past six months had “not been easy”.

Earlier this year, Wilkinson faced backlash when in her Logies acceptance speech she referenced the Brittany Higgins rape case.

“The last six months have not been easy and the relentless, targeted toxicity by some sections of the media has taken a toll, not just on me but on people I love. Don’t get me wrong, I am not above criticism, far from it, I am human and I don’t always get it right, none of us do, but by god I have tried,” she said.