Belinda Russell breaks silence on Weekend Today exit

in her first official interview since her departure from Weekend Today, Belinda Russell reveals about how she reacted to the news – and her plans for the future.

Amid the family snaps and joyful dance clips that populate the Instagram feed of television presenter Belinda Russell, the montage of light and lively on-air moments she offered in one recent post was particularly bittersweet. “My time on Weekend Today has come to an end,” she wrote, stunning fans of the Nine Network stalwart.

Now, in her first official interview since that announcement, Russell talks to Stellar exclusively about how she reacted, her plans for the future, and why her family (and, yes, social media) may be guiding her in the right direction: “My eyes are wide open”.

When Belinda Russell was appointed the co-host of Weekend Today back in late 2021, among the many congratulatory messages she received was one from her former Nine Network colleague Lisa Wilkinson. After reading the text, which said that her new role was “well deserved”, Russell messaged back: “Thanks so much, Lisa, I really appreciate your text. We’ll see how long it lasts.” She then signed off with a shrug emoji.

Belinda Russell: ‘You have setbacks in life, but it’s how you bounce back that matters.’ Picture: Stefan Wellsmore for Stellar

As Russell and Wilkinson can both attest, a lack of certainty is one of the occupational hazards of working in television, yet it’s no less confronting if, and when, the axe falls. And if chutzpah and sharp-wittedness are characteristics required to helm a breakfast show, it would be a one-dimensional host who failed to feel. Which is why Russell, despite her resilience and pragmatism, is candid about losing the role after just a year.

“It wasn’t the start to 2023 that I was expecting, and it was disappointing,” Russell tells Stellar in her first interview since her Instagram announcement two months ago that her time on the show had come to an end.

“It’s going to be a bit of a knock to your confidence and self-esteem but you do then think, well, what’s next? You’ve got to trust the universe and back yourself,” she says, sending her best wishes to new hosts Jayne Azzopardi and Clint Stanaway (who replace Russell and her former co-hosts, Nine’s long-time entertainment editor Richard Wilkins and Charles Croucher, who was appointed the network’s political editor in October).

Although Russell, 44, has worked at Nine since 2007 – during which she had time off-air to have her three daughters – she says that losing her job on Weekend Today is an opportunity for her girls, Maddi, 16, Tallulah, 13, and Coco, 11, to observe that things don’t always pan out how you hope.

“You have setbacks in life, but it’s how you bounce back that matters,” she says. “[It’s good] for my girls to see that and learn about resilience.”

Belinda Russell pictured with daughters Maddi, Coco & Tallulah for their shoot with Stellar. Picture: Stefan Wellsmore for Stellar

Another upside to reclaiming her Sunday mornings has been having the time to focus

on her charitable endeavours, including her partnership with the breast cancer research fundraiser Women In Super Mother’s Day Classic, a countrywide fun-run on May 14.

While her usual walking companion, the family’s cavoodle Bailey, will stay at home, Russell and her two younger daughters will take part.

“The past few years I’ve been working so I had to do it in my own time,” she explains. “It’s such a good cause and good for my girls to understand how important it is to think about others, not just yourself.”

I don’t have a personal story with breast cancer, but everyone knows someone [who has been affected, given that] 57 Aussies are diagnosed and nine are dying every day.”

As the co-chair of the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Foundation’s Gold Lunch committee, Russell recently conscripted her colleagues to help raise $1 million for the hospital’s Kids Cancer Centre, an endeavour that put her own career disappointment in perspective.

“Life isn’t always fair,” she says, recalling how the lunch was held at the home of two parents whose daughter was diagnosed with leukaemia at the age of 11. With her daughter Coco now the same age, Russell says she’s more motivated than ever to use her platform to help others, even if that’s through a bit of social-media sharing.

Since Covid lockdowns in 2020, Russell has been posting short, joyful dance clips of her with her daughters and, later with her colleagues – most notably David Campbell with whom she co-hosted Today Extra while Sylvia Jeffreys was on maternity leave.

Belinda Russell: ‘We’ll have to see what the universe has in store for us. It would be an awesome family adventure.’ Picture: Stefan Wellsmore for Stellar

“Bel is one of the nicest humans you can meet, work and dance with,” Campbell tells Stellar of his on-air partner. “Most say ‘glass half full’, Bel fills her own cup and [those of] all who are at her table. She taught me the power of kindness and positivity for all.”

The dancing clips have gained Russell more than 400k TikTok followers and 250k on Instagram. That attention, along with posts about her solid family life with husband Mark Calvert (a former Nine executive who now heads up programming for Sky News Australia), have brought her both commercial partnerships and an online community.

At a recent event, a woman approached her and started to cry. “‘You don’t understand, you got me through Covid,’” Russell says the fan told her, explaining that her mother was in a nursing home and she would stand outside with her phone pressed against the window to show her Russell’s dance videos.

As she tells Stellar, “I didn’t grasp how powerful it can be bringing a bit of hope and joy and brightening someone’s day.”

That kind of perspective has been vital for Russell, who remains at Nine, presenting the weather on Fridays and Saturdays, and filling in for Jeffreys and weather presenter Amber Sherlock.

“TV is so subjective,” she continues. “One person might think something but then a million others might disagree. That’s the way the cookie crumbles and I’m not going to cry about it. It is what it is, but what’s next?”

Perhaps her creative social-media output offers a hint. While her dancing skills are obvious, Russell is also a whiz at baking.

She recently served up a treat for colleague Lizzie Pearl’s 40th birthday and, in 2017,

baked a chocolate cake for the 25th wedding anniversary and vow renewal of Wilkinson and her journalist husband Peter FitzSimons.

“If an opportunity came up to host more of an entertainment show, to have fun and explore that zest for life, it would be great to try something different,” Russell reveals.

Whatever the opportunity, she points out that she’s not just “sunshine and rainbows”. Russell says being a team player matters more than jobs – “it doesn’t need to be cutthroat” – which is why she was one of the last to leave a recent gathering at Georgie Gardner’s house for the hair and make-up team.

As someone who “loves people” and was taught by her school principal dad to look for the positive, she says she’s felt heartened by the support from her colleagues and fans, even though her happiness has never hinged on her career.

“I work at Channel Nine and for Channel Nine, but I don’t think any particular role belongs to me. You hope your ability means you’re put in roles that you can shine in, but my eyes are wide open. If I don’t work in the TV industry any more or I leave Channel Nine, life is still going to be good.”

Indeed, with Maddi now attending ballet school in England, and Tallulah offered a place in an intensive summer course at the Royal Ballet School in London, Russell says she and Calvert wouldn’t rule out a move to the UK, where they first met.

“If we end up with two daughters over there, that’s a lot of missed time with them,” she reasons. “We’ll have to see what the universe has in store for us. It would be an awesome family adventure.”

While the girls have clearly inherited their mum’s talent, Russell knows better than anyone that talent doesn’t necessarily lead to a career in dance.

Belinda Russell: ‘My career is important to me, but it’s not the number one. My family will always be number one.’ Picture: Stefan Wellsmore for Stellar

Having moved from country Queensland, where her parents were schoolteachers, to Brisbane to attend dance school in her teens, she eventually opted for university over performing.

“I’ve been a ballerina so I know how tough it is,” she says. “It wouldn’t surprise me if their ambitions change as they get older, and their ballet blinkers come off. There’s no pressure from us for them to make a career out of it.”

Thanks to messaging apps, Russell is in constant contact with Maddi and is grateful she’s having fun: “Everyone says ‘You must miss her’, but she’s living her best life and because she’s happy, I’m happy for her.”

Stellar managed to photograph all four of them together during one of Maddi’s recent trips home but, as Russell points out, it’s now harder to get the two older ones to take part in her dance videos.

“My girls think I’m highly embarrassing,” she says, laughing.

As her 45th birthday approaches next month, Russell has no misgivings. Her girls, she says, keep her young.

“They say you shouldn’t be best mates with your children, and there is plenty of discipline, but it’s kind of like they’re your good friends because you want to speak to them about stuff. I’ve always given my kids responsibility and told them they have my trust until they break it.”

Her trust in that bond leads her to shrug – in much the manner of that 2021 emoji – when considering her future: “My career is important to me, but it’s not the number one. My family will always be number one.”

To participate in one of the Mother’s Day Classic events being held across Australia on May 14, visit mothersdayclassic.com.au.

Belinda Russell features in this Sunday’s Stellar. Picture: Daniel Nadel for Stellar.