Homeschooling and lockdowns led to Leigh Sales quitting 7.30

Popular ABC TV host Leigh Sales suddenly quit on air, and this is what led to her shock decision.

Brutal NSW Covid lockdowns – and the added pressure of homeschooling – were major factors behind Leigh Sales’ departure as host of the ABC’s current affairs flagship, industry insiders say.

The accomplished journalist and long-time 7.30 host announced last week that she would be handing the reins over to a new presenter once the federal election had passed.

The 48-year-old hinted at the toll the coronavirus pandemic had taken on her young family, saying her sons James and Daniel had “only ever known their mum at work four nights a week”.

Leigh Sales is hugely respected for her no-nonsense approach to interviews. Picture: Instagram

And insiders have told The Australian’s Media Diary that the challenges of juggling work and parenting duties might have indeed played a role in the shock move.

“The talk inside Aunty is the task of having to juggle the hosting of a national show with her duties as a single mother of two – particularly during nearly five months of homeschooling in NSW in 2021 – couldn’t be underestimated as a contributing factor towards (the) announcement,” writes Nick Tabakoff.

“Notably, Sales took off about six weeks of leave in the middle of last year – primarily, we hear, to allow her to dedicate herself to homeschooling her two boys.”

Sales’ shock departure will close the book on a more-than 11-year stint at the helm of the news program.

Sales said her children, now aged 8 and 11, had never known a time when their mum was not at work four nights a week.

The Walkley Award-winner and Member of the Order of Australia (AM) recipient is hugely respected for her no-nonsense approach to interviews.

Among the candidates to replace her are believed to be the ABC’s US-based special reporter Sarah Ferguson, Insiders host David Speers, and 7.30’s chief political correspondent Laura Tingle, who filled in as host over the summer.

In her announcement last Thursday, Sales said her children, now aged 8 and 11, had never known a time when their mum was not at work four nights a week.

“They want me home with them before 8.30pm and I don’t think that’s too much for two little boys to ask and they’re two beautiful little boys.” she said.

In a teary announcement at the end of Thursday’s program, Ms Sales told viewers she would step down after the upcoming federal election.

She said there was nothing negative influencing the decision but it was time to allow somebody else the opportunity and to give herself a break.

“There’s nothing wrong, other than I just feel a strong sense of it being time to pass the baton to the next runner in the race and to take a break,” Sales told viewers.

“The end of an election cycle feels like a good time to move onto something new at the ABC.

“I’ve always approached this job with one goal and that is to ask frank questions of people in power, without fear or favour, that a fair-minded, reasonable person with some common sense watching at home might like to ask if they were sitting in my position.”

She continued: “I’ve tried to shut down and call out bulls--t, hold powerful people to account, expose lies, incompetence and exaggeration in all political parties and all issues and present facts even when they’re unpopular or inconvenient.

Sales has hosted the program for over ten years. Image: Britta Campion / The Australian

“I have truly tried my absolute hardest on behalf of you at home to do that every single time I’ve sat at the desk. Anchoring 7.30 has been the most amazing job and I’ll never stop being grateful for the opportunities it’s given me.”

The 48-year-old went on to name a number of unforgettable moments on air, from bubbly celebrity interviews, to tense moments with politicians and heartbreaking interviews following the 2016 Dreamworld accident.

“People like Matthew Lowe, who lost his wife, are the ones who stick with you,” she said.

“Every time you interview somebody whose life has been devastated you feel terrified by what life has dished up to them and incredibly humbled by how they met it with strength and clarity and dignity and you just don’t forget it.”

She said interviewing former Beatle Paul McCartney was “one of the best days of my life”.

“In all the years I‘ve anchored, I’ve never had more viewers come up to me in public and say how much joy it gave them that interview and it was beautiful that people felt they had shared in that experience with now,” she said.

She reassured viewers she wasn’t leaving the ABC.

“The team at 7.30 is unparalleled in the media and I could not have more admiration or more gratitude for what they all do.

“It is an incredibly important program, there is no other show that does what 7.30 does night after night. I know the program is going to keep going from strength to strength, as it always has.”

ABC’s acting news director Gavin Fang said he would “start thinking about a new presenter down the track”, according to The Guardian.

“We would love to have her stay in that role, but it’s in Leigh’s nature to seek fresh challenges, and it’s exciting for everyone to see what she’ll do next in journalism,” he said.