Surprise favourite to replace ABC’s 7.30 host Leigh Sales

Speculation has been mounting as to who will take over Leigh Sales’ seat at 7.30 following her shock exit – and a surprise frontrunner has emerged.

A surprise frontrunner has emerged in the race to fill the role as host of ABC’s flagship current affairs program, 7.30, following the shock departure of Leigh Sales.

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.

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

Ferguson, 56, 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.

Ferguson has accumulated numerous accolades throughout her career, including five Walkley Awards.

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Sales is stepping down from the show later this year.

Sarah Ferguson has emerged as a top pick to replace her.

Sales, 48, made the shock announcement about her departure on air during Thursday night’s show, revealing she would be leaving the desk later this year “once the federal election is over”, closing the book on a more-than 11-year run behind the desk.

“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,” she said.

“At the end of an election cycle feels like a good time to move on to something new at the ABC. I hope it’s been obvious that 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.”

An announcement from @leighsales. #abc730pic.twitter.com/hy01mUsYyD

— abc730 (@abc730) February 10, 2022

Since taking up the role in 2010, Sales has covered five Australian prime ministers, presented nine federal budgets and covered two, and now soon to be three, federal elections.

“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,” she continued.

“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.”

David Speers, host of ABC's Insiders program, is among the candidates to replace Sales. Picture: ABC

Laura Tingle has also been named. Picture: ABC

Sales went on to thank the ABC for a number of unforgettable moments on air, recalling on everything from bubbly celebrity interviews, intense clashes with politicians and the heart-wrenching 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 reassured viewers she wasn’t departing the national broadcaster entirely, wishing luck to the station for the future of 7.30.

“There’s no other show that does what 7.30 does night after night,” she said.

“I’m so proud of what our team does. And I know the program is going to keep going from strength to strength as it always has. I feel overwhelmed when I think of all the things that working at 7.30 has given me and I’m looking forward to having a good break and figuring out what I do next at the ABC.”

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.