After announcing on Monday that he would be leaving the Sunrise desk after 21 years, David ‘Kochie’ Koch has opened up about his departure and given his thoughts on the next person to tackle the early mornings.
See Also: Kochie to leave Sunrise after two decades behind the desk
On Tuesday, Kochie joined 4BC’s Sofie Formica to chat through his decision to leave the show and what comes next.
Sofie Formica
“We know that the official announcement is going to be made on Monday, so all I will ask is: Are you happy with who is going to replace you?” Formica asked.
“Yes, I am. I can absolutely guarantee they’ll be younger and better looking than me, so that basically excludes no one,” joked Kochie.
“Sunrise has always been bigger than any individual person,” he continued. “We’ve had changes throughout the years, and the show really hasn’t skipped a beat – that’s the type of show that we’ve tried to build. Viewers are comfortable with the Sunrise family whether they work on Weekend Sunrise or weekday Sunrise. We’ve got a formula, we’ve got a value set that we really adhere to and seems to resonate.
“Australia is very lucky that we have three really good breakfast programs. That keeps us all honest and spurs us on to be better.”
Kochie will step away from the Sunrise desk in two weeks as the longest-serving breakfast television host in Australian history, having broadcast a record 16,000 hours of live TV across more than 5300 shows and some 50,000 interviews.
His replacement is set to be announced on Monday, June 5. The speculated front runner is currently Matt ‘Shirvo’ Shirvington, however, social media rumours have pitched everyone from Stan Grant (who recently stepped back from ABC’s Q+A) to Dr Chris Brown (who is due to start with the Seven Network in July) as potential replacements.