Video: Eamonn Holmes signs off Sky News Sunrise

Eamonn Holmes presented his last ever Sky News Sunrise this morning.

From Monday (17th Oct), Sarah-Jane Mee and Jonathan Samuels will be the new faces of Sky News Sunrise and will present the show from Sky’s new studios a week later (24th Oct).

Eamonn announced last month that he would step down from the breakfast show, saying: “Anchoring my own breakfast show for 11 years has been for me the stuff of boyhood dreams. It was the job I hoped to do as a young Belfast lad – and because of Sky News I got there!

“Forty five years plus on I have other dreams, and to achieve them I realise that unfortunately I need to step away from the daily studio commitment for a while. There is an addiction to a live breaking news studio environment.

“However, after more than 3,000 hours of programming it is a habit I have to suppress. Increasingly in life I have found myself in the fortunate position of having so much to do but little time to do it. This seems an opportune moment to change that.

“Going forward, I will now produce and present a number of documentary projects which I have been stalling for some time, as well as continuing my work with ITV and Channel 5. There is so much going on and I realised it was now or never…”

Last five minutes of this morning’s Sunrise. Video courtesy of TV Live

Speaking of Sarah-Jane’s appointment, John Ryley, Head of Sky News, said: “I am delighted that Sarah-Jane is to anchor Sunrise.

“She’s enjoying a stellar career here at Sky and will bring a fresh outlook to Sunrise, combining a lightness of touch with sharp journalistic nous; I know she will excel in her new role.”