Kay Burley retires from Sky News after 36 years

Sky News presenter Kay Burley has announced she is retiring from the web aft 36 years.

Closing the channel's meal programme connected Wednesday, Burley said it had been "an honour and a privilege to enactment with immoderate of the champion and hardest moving teams successful the business".

Burley reflected that Sky News had gone "from a lasting commencement to 1 of the astir recognised and valued brands successful planetary news".

Burley, 64, joined Sky News successful 1989 and was portion of the squad that covered the decease of Diana, Princess of Wales, the 9/11 panic attacks, the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and the commencement of Prince George.

In 2018, she was fixed her ain show, The Kay Burley Show which moved into the meal slot a twelvemonth later.

She was suspended from presenting her amusement for sixth months successful December 2020 for breaching coronavirus restrictions arsenic she celebrated her 60th day successful cardinal London.

Speaking astatine the extremity of her show, Burley added: "News by its precise quality is often devastating and unneurotic we've covered truthful galore life-changing events.

"But we've besides enjoyed immoderate fantastic precocious notes too, haven't we - the thrill of London winning the accidental to big the 2012 Olympics; a plethora of royal weddings; jubilees and who tin hide days and days and days waiting for royal babies to get astatine the Lindo Wing.

"But aft much than a cardinal minutes of unrecorded TV quality - much than anyone other successful the satellite - its clip for maine to indulge successful immoderate of my different passions - including my emotion for travel.

"So, aft covering 12 abstracted wide elections - including Sir Keir Starmer's triumph past twelvemonth - I americium retiring from Sky News - fto politicians of each enactment conscionable rejoice astatine that news!

"Thank you for waking up and tuning successful each morning. I can't archer you however overmuch I person appreciated your enactment implicit the past 3 and a fractional decades: You're awesome."

In 2007 Burley appeared arsenic a contestant connected ITV's Dancing connected Ice and successful 2018 she was portion of the 2nd bid of Celebrity Hunted.

David Rhodes, enforcement president of Sky News, said Kay's committedness to Sky and bequest successful tv journalism is "unmatched".

"We convey Kay for her immense publication to Sky, to the creation of the interrogation and to British journalism. And we privation her the champion of luck," helium added.

Paying tribute to Burley, TV shaper Sam McAlister said connected X that she was "an implicit icon".

"Smart arsenic hell, crisp arsenic they come, bloody astonishing company," she wrote.