Sandra Sully looks back at the most shocking news stories she’s worked on as she marks 30 years at Channel 10
Channel Ten newsreader Sandra Sully has revealed the most harrowing news stories she’s worked on as she celebrates a stellar 30-year career at the network.
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Sandra Sully is seriously sobbing (alliteration intended).
The queen of Australian broadcast TV news – celebrating 30 years in media in 2020 – apologises for her hiccuping tears, as she speaks lovingly about the role her viewers rarely see: as stepmother.
When the 10 News anchor married second husband and banking executive, Symon Brewis-Weston in 2011, his daughter Mia was the missing piece of Sully’s heart she never thought she’d find.
“Mia has been a real gift in my life, an unexpected surprise that came with my husband,” Sully tells TV Guide/Watch.
“I just didn’t think motherhood was going to happen to me, for a whole range of reasons, personal and private. But then, through serendipity, I met Mia when she was four. It was such a gift to care for someone so small who could show you that affection in a really generous, honest way.
Sully’s heartwarming vulnerability speaks to her love for the little girl who has changed her life.
“I’m sorry, I get really emotional talking about her,” she says in a whisper, still weeping.
“I didn’t not want to be a mother … it just didn’t happen for me. I was never really around small children but this little one … when you get up in the middle of the night and they need you; or they sleep in your bed because they’re scared, it’s so gorgeous. And it’s incredible that you’re capable of that love. She’s a gift.”
The feeling sounds like its mutual, with the now teenager keeping the TV star well and truly grounded about her national TV profile.
“She’s bold and strong and sassy and fun and cheeky and takes the p*ss out of me, which is great. Our relationship has been a real joy.”
This happy home life marries with Sully’s long and loyal career at 10, which has been a haven, in good times and bad.
It was the early 80s when Sully traded in her leg warmers and leotards as an aerobic instructor and gym manager and took on her first role as production assistant at Channel 7 Brisbane’s former news magazine show, State of Affairs.
A senior news director encouraged her to change her business degree studies to journalism and with her organisational skills and a natural flair on air, Sully’s career climb took off.
All wasn’t smooth sailing, with the former Late News presenter suffering long-term trauma when assaulted and pistol-whipped as she made her way to her car after work one evening.
“When the assault, I needed to just sit quietly away from the hustle and bustle of prime time,” she recalls, adding “I was quite bruised by that experience.”
While she took her time to heal, the tragic events of September 11 would thrust Sully back into the public glare – on air and narrating the events when the second plane crashed into New York’s famed twin towers of the World Trade Centre.
Holding her poise as the full scale of the terrorist act unfolded, Sully admits now she felt “numb” as the Late News team and colleagues on Sports Tonight scrambled to find information and seek clarity on what was happening before their eyes.
“I felt the weight of [it]. I felt the pressure of getting the tone right. To express the gravitas, to capture the moment adequately and not do myself, the network or the moment a disservice. It was the biggest thing that’s happened in our lifetime. It was one singular global news event that really changed the world in an instant and I knew it at the time,” she recalls.
“It was such a surreal moment that I couldn’t process the magnitude of it to the full extent. It was just mind-numbingly monumental,” she says.
“I knew at the time that it would either be the end of me or the world, if you know what I mean. I just had to do the best I could and then, I broadcast for about four days and I didn’t sleep for four days. Couldn’t shed a tear, that’s how numb I was.”
Despite the desperate sadness of the story, Sully’s ‘Cronkite’ moment stands as a professional highlight, along with leading coverage of September 11 one year on; the rescue of Stuart Diver after the Thredbo landslide disaster; as well as the record-breaking adventures of young sailor, Jessica Watson.
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The rise of 24/7 news has also played well for Sully, whose hunger for news saw her be an early adopter of the digital platform; now hosting her own podcast Short Black on 10 Daily.
“After September 11, we all became global citizens. A 24/7 news cycle happened over night. Then we started 10 Daily and 5pm [bulletins] and now podcasts. It doesn’t stop morphing and evolving and with all that comes opportunity,” she enthuses,” I’ve really enjoyed that.”
The ever-changing nature of news saw Sully move into her network anchor role almost a decade ago.
“The first day I came back from my honeymoon with Symon, they axed Late News and asked me to do 5pm in Sydney. I really wasn’t ready for it, or anything I was looking for. I remember saying ‘what choice do I have?’ and the boss said, ‘none’ and I said, ‘well, I guess I’ll do it then,’ she laughs.
“I felt like it was the universe saying to me I needed the change … if you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always got.”
* 10 News First, 5pm, weeknights, 10