Leigh Sales reveals next move after quitting ABC’s 7.30 program

The longtime presenter has revealed the date of her last show as host of the ABC program – and what she’ll do once she finishes up.

Leigh Sales has revealed the date of her final show at the helm of ABC’s flagship current affairs program, 7.30, along with what she plans to do next.

The journalist, 48, shared an image of herself to Instagram on Tuesday, along with a caption explaining she would finish up on Thursday, June 30 and then take “the rest of 2022 off” in order to have “a huge rest”.

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

Sales 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”.

In her announcement, 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.

Sales has hosted 7.30 for more than a decade.

In the following days, insiders 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.

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

There’s been mounting speculation that ABC executives were likely to appoint either Insiders host David Speers or political correspondent Laura Tingle, who filled in as 7.30 host over the summer break.

Stan Grant and Virginia Trioli have also been named in the mix.

David Speers.

Sarah Ferguson.

However, according to Media Diary, it’s ABC reporter Sarah Ferguson who is firming up as the favourite to take over.

Ferguson filled in as 7.30 host for six months while Sales was on maternity leave in 2014, before moving on to Four Corners. She is temporarily based in Washington, with the ongoing tensions between Australia and China currently preventing her from taking up her proposed position as the ABC’s Beijing bureau chief.