Eamonn Holmes has quit Sky News' 'Sunrise'.
Eamonn Holmes
The 56-year-old presenter has anchored the early morning breakfast show for 11 years but has now decided to turn his back on the programme to focus on other projects.
Taking to his Facebook account on Thursday (01.09.16), he explained: "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."
The broadcaster will still present 'This Morning' on Fridays and over the summer with his wife Ruth Langsford, as well as host his comedy panel game show 'It's Not Me, It's You'.
But he'd also like to turn his attention to documentaries, which he's been forced to stall for many years due to his busy schedule.
He said: "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... Sky's Head of News, John Ryley, has been very understanding and sympathetic of my decision.
"I would like to publicly thank him and the wider Sky family for all their support throughout my time at Osterley ...
"Finally, I cannot stress how hard it is saying goodbye to such a programme and the friends and colleagues who I have met over the years because of it - but nothing stays the same - nor should it ... To those who have worked or woken up with me on Sky News over the years - thank you. I hope you appreciated that I tried to do it differently."
Tagged in Eamonn Holmes