Leigh Sales reveals one TV job she’ll never do after leaving 7.30

In a candid new interview, Leigh Sales opens up about the “hard toll” that’s weighed on her before quitting one of TV’s most coveted jobs.

In a rare interview where she is the one answering questions, Leigh Sales sits down with Stellar to answer her critics, consider what comes next and talk about the incessant trolling and social media pile-ons which she admits “took a really hard toll on people close to me”.

It’s the respected broadcaster’s first interview since announcing she was stepping down as host of the ABC’s 7.30. She also opens up to the magazine about her decision to quit Twitter in April.

“People have reported that I left because there was an interview with Scott Morrison and then I was abused,” she said on her exit from the social media platform.

“But I was abused all the time, so actually that had nothing to do with it,” she said.

“I just decided to jump off before the election because I thought the level of the trolling would ramp right up.”

Read Leigh Sales’ full interview with Stellar here.

Leigh Sales shut down her Twitter account before the recent election. Picture: Duncan Killick

Sales said that while she had always tried to ignore online trolls, she was worried social media pile-ones could “translate into real-life violence”.

“I have two protective violence orders on me from random people who’ve made threats against me. There have been others where police have looked at them and recommended certain courses of action,” she said.

“I don’t know for sure that that’s related to that online mentality, but I think it certainly wouldn’t help, particularly the level of misinformation that’s out there; this constant narrative that I’m attempting to back in one side of politics or the other, which is completely false.”

Amid much speculation about her next move, Sales revealed that for the first time in her career, she hadn’t lined up another job before quitting the present one – which she said was “scary but also really exciting”.

Leigh Sales is featured on the cover of Stellar, out today. Picture: Duncan Killick

The journalist is stepping down as 7.30 host, with no future plans as yet. Picture: ABC

“I feel like I need to make a list of things I like about my job and journalism, and things I don’t like. And once I’ve got that list, what’s a job I could do that would meet the things I like?” she said.

“I don’t like doing live, rolling, unscripted television. Well, that means I’m never going to host a breakfast television show – that rules me out forever for that. I’ve got six months of long-service leave, so I’ll take that. I need a break to have some time to figure it out but I love working at the ABC and I know that whatever I do next here, it will be interesting and meaningful.”

For now though, Sales says she’s looking forward to getting evenings back to spend with her two sons, Daniel, 10, and James, 8.

“The kids love sitting on the couch, cuddling and watching TV and arguing over what we’re going to watch tonight and stuff like that. And that to me seems like heaven to do that every night.”

Read the full interview with Leigh Sales in today’s Stellar magazine, free with the Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Herald Sun.