Tony Armstrong is ready to spread his wings after quitting ABC’s News Breakfast with an emotional farewell on Oct. 4.
The popular TV presenter announced on September 24 that he was finishing up, three years after he joined the program that made him one of the most popular TV presenters in Australia today.
“I’ve been pretty nervous about doing this,” Armstrong shared on the show.
“Um, yeah, it’s been a whirlwind sort of three-and-a-touch years, a lot’s happened, it feels like I’ve been on a bit of a rocket ship, but the support that I’ve got from News Brekkie and news in general has been amazing.”
While he added he would miss his colleagues, Armstong confessed there was one aspect of the job he was happy to put firmly in his past- the early morning wake-up calls.
“I’m going to miss the couch – I’m not going to miss the alarm, but I’ll miss the couch – I’ve had such a ball.”
On his last day, Armstrong was joined by a host of colleagues and friends and appeared emotional as Paralympian and presenter Dylan Alcott said he was “very lucky” to have Armstrong “as a friend”.
Armstrong, who is in a relationship with Rona Glynn-McDonald, told viewers it took “a village” to get the show on air.
“Look at this team around me. This is everyone that makes this show work. We are just the lucky presenters that get to go out there and present all of the hard work,” the departing star said.
“It takes a village. We do it understaffed and under resourced, and every day everybody rocks up with a smile on their face doing the work of four or five people.
“So yes, I’m just an instrument that is part of a team.”
What is Tony Armstrong’s new job?
While sharing the bombshell news he was leaving the ABC breakfast show, Armstong teased he was working on an exciting new “top secret” project for the broadcaster.
“I’ve got something coming out early next year, not allowed to say what it is yet, it’s top secret,” he quipped.
Of course, his popularity with the audience saw Armstrong being offered many extra opportunities to get in front of the camera by the broadcaster.
This year, he hosted Extra-Ordinary Things, which saw him bike around the country to search for special objects that unlocked Australian history.
He also fronted Great Australian Stuff and A Dog’s World for the ABC.
“Tony will continue to work with ABC network, hosting a new show screening in 2025 that will be announced later this year,” an ABC spokesperson said.
In addition to his broadcasting career, Armstrong is set to release his first book in October 2024.
Called George the Wizard, it’s billed as an uplifting story about friendship and “letting others see your true colours”.
“I love being in the world of the fantastic and being a bit silly,” Armstrong told the Courier Mail.
“Kids’ books just throw the rules even further out the window. It’s just feel and emotion and I was drawn to that – the only thing holding you up is you.”
What did Tony Armstrong do before he was on TV?
Armstrong has had a meteoric rise, with his media career only starting in 2000.
He joined ABC News Breakfast in 2021, replacing Paul Kennedy as the sports reporter.
Before that, he was a professional footballer who’d played on AFL teams including the Sydney Swans and Adelaide Crows.
During his tenure on ABC Breakfast News, Armstrong went from being relatively unknown outside of AFL circles to one of Australia’s best-loved personalities, even being nominated for a Gold Logie this year and picking up a silver award for Most Popular Presenter in 2023 and Best Nest New Talent in 2022.
“I’m so glad this show has provided you with a platform to become an award-winning household name and you’ll go on to much bigger and better things,” ABC Breakfast News co-host Michael Rowland joked when Armstrong announced his decision to leave.
Fellow host Bridget Brennan added of the proud Gamilaroi man: “I know it’s meant so much to me and to thousands upon thousands of First Nations viewers waking up to see Tony representing us on the daily.”
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