After 17 years as host of Nine‘s A Current Affair, Tracy Grimshaw has announced that she will be retiring from the iconic program. Grimshaw began her time on A Current Affair in January 2006, replacing the previous host Ray Martin.
“Normally right about now we’d be telling you what to expect tomorrow night but lately I’ve personally been thinking longer term, and I have some news that I wanted you to hear from me before you hear it from anyone else,” she said on Monday night.
“I’ve decided to finish up with A Current Affair this year.
“It’s been a big decision and before the gossip websites start telling you rubbish, I want you to know it’s been my decision alone and I’m not being shoved out the door by the boys club because I’m too old.
“I’ve basically been a shift worker for 26 years, driving to work before dawn for nine years on the Today Show, and the past 17 years driving home after dark here on A Current Affair and it’s time for less of that daily obligation.”
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Nine’s director of news and current affairs, Darren Wick, said: “Tracy Grimshaw is an inspiration to us at Nine.
“She is the best interviewer on television and has been for many years. And she will forever take her place alongside the greatest interviewers that Australian journalism has ever seen.
“Tracy is stepping away from A Current Affair at the peak of her powers. That generates mixed feelings of joy and sadness for those among us who have known her for many years.
“Joy, because Tracy has decided now is the perfect time to leave the program. She is doing it on her own terms on her own timetable. Just as she has done throughout her whole career.
“And sadness because she is irreplaceable. I know we work in an industry where it’s often said that anyone can be replaced. But that’s not true with Trace. She is one of a kind. She cares about her colleagues and she cares about her viewers.
“We love her. We admire her. And we will miss her nightly on our screens.”
In her time with the show, Grimshaw has been at the forefront of some of the country’s biggest news stories. Only months after taking the role, she interviewed Brant Webb and Todd Russell, the survivors of the Beaconsfield mine collapse, in what became one of the most watched shows of that year.
Grimshaw’s interviews with the Hey Dad! cast after allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour from the show’s patriarch, Robert Hughes, in 2010 made headlines of their own.
So too did her interview with swimmer Simon Cowley – and the fellow swimmer who assaulted him, Nick D’Arcy. That interview in 2009, alongside her interview with Matthew Johns and his wife in relation to allegations of group sex, saw her win the Walkeley for All Media: Broadcast and Online Interviewing.
Tracy Grimshaw will remain on the show until November. A new host has not been announced.