Beloved and veteran TV news presenter Sharyn Ghidella brings her 38 years of experience back to the network where her career began and, starting September, Sharyn will present Queensland’s 10 News First bulletin from the network’s Brisbane studios.
After completing University, Sharyn began an internship at North Queensland Television (NQTV), before moving to Brisbane and joining the Channel 10 newsroom.
"It's been a while," Sharyn told 10 Play of the return to Network 10. "It was the early 1990s when I was last there, so I'm assuming things have changed a little bit, but I still know my way to the car park so I should be right."
With 10 News First presenter Sandra Sully handing over the reins to Sharyn, she added that she was thrilled to have the opportunity to focus on even more local news in and for Queenslanders.
"We've certainly seen a lot of viewer comments on what [they] want in their news bulletin and local news is always top of the list," she said. "It impacts viewers' everyday lives, so to be able to present a news bulletin that's going to focus even more on local content, as well as have that focus on the national and international news is just such a perfect opportunity to me.
"It feels like a match made in heaven that I've been able to come back to 10 and to focus on that local news. I'm really excited about it," she added.
After the shock news that Sharyn would be leaving the Seven Network after 17 years, she penned a heartfelt Facebook post thanking the team and the loyal viewers she had built over almost two decades. The post went semi-viral, making headlines of its own which was a shock in itself to Sharyn.
"As a journalist, you don't want to be the story, do you? You want to report on the stories," she laughed. "I couldn’t be happier at the fact that viewers seem to agree with me that they just want their news served up to them in a straightforward manner each night, and that’s really all I was trying to say in that Facebook post.
"So many people said, 'I watched you when I was at school, I watched you when I was at uni, I watched you when I had my first baby'," she recalled. "It was incredible how long people have stuck with the news that I've presented."
The response also reiterated just how much trust and respect viewers have for Sharyn and her tenure behind the news desk.
"That’s the most important thing in a news presenter, you have to trust them, you have to believe in them," Sharyn said. "The fact that viewers trust in me to allow me to come into their lounge rooms each night to present to them the events of the day means an awful lot to me, and it does take years to build up that trust."
That trust can't be earned overnight, and Sharyn has built it with her viewers over her lengthy career and across many quality programs, but she also chalks it up to the fact that she hopes viewers see her as a friend.
"We are literally coming into their lounge rooms every night, so I think I have some good friends out there.
"Hopefully, they’ll continue to tune in as we move forward into this new era with 10 News First in Brisbane," she continued. "Thankfully Network 10 is focused on local news and they've seen a place for me to come back to 10 News First."
Sharyn will present Queensland’s 10 News First bulletin from the network’s Brisbane studios in September.
