ITV News legend leaves channel and shares sad statement (2024)

Lucy Meaco*ck has bid a poignant farewell to ITV after an impressive 36 years gracing our television screens, in a week shadowed by the harrowing Southport stabbings that saw the tragic loss of three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga event.

The veteran presenter, aged 64, had her departure from the broadcaster signalled last month and took to Twitter this Wednesday to announce she would be stepping down amid what she described as "the saddest of weeks" reflecting on the stabbing incident which claimed the lives of Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, Bebe King, 6, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7.

Following the brutal attack, a 17-year-old boy was charged with their murders. The court lifted the anonymity typically granted to minors in such cases this past Thursday.

Expressing her sentiment during these sombre times, she tweeted: "I will bow out quietly - it's been the saddest of weeks. Like everyone else my thoughts are only with those little girls who lost their lives in Southport. I have met some of the loveliest people this week and over my 36 years. It has been a privilege. Thank you."

Having become one of ITV's leading ladies anchoring the regional news show Granada Reports starting in 1988, Lucy commemorated her 35th anniversary on the show in November the previous year, reports the Mirror.

The seasoned journalist announced her intention to step down back in mid-July, calling it "one of the most difficult decisions" of her career, whilst also acknowledging that it was time for her to seek new opportunities. When revealing her plans, Lucy articulated:

"I will bow out quietly - it's been the saddest of weeks. Like everyone else my thoughts are only with those little girls who lost their lives in Southport", she wrote. "I have met some of the loveliest people this week and over my 36 years . It has been a privilege Thank you.

"This has been one of the most difficult decisions I have ever made."

Having become one of ITV's leading ladies anchoring the regional news show Granada Reports starting in 1988, Lucy commemorated her 35th anniversary on the show in November the previous year.

She announced her intention to step down back in mid-July, calling it "one of the most difficult decisions" of her career, whilst also acknowledging that it was time for her to seek new opportunities. When revealing her plans, Lucy articulated: "This has been one of the most difficult decisions I have ever made.

"But the time is right to move on now. For me, it has always been the best job in the world, with the best people in the world, in the best region in the world! I am very grateful that I was given this job so many years ago. I have always tried my hardest to make a positive contribution and I hope I will be remembered with some fondness in the years ahead."

She added: "It has been a complete honour and privilege to serve the people of this region and I will always have the interests of the North West at heart. A big thank you to all the people who have appeared on the programme over the years, sometimes when they have been facing some very tough challenges."

Starting her career at the Chester Chronicle before moving to BBC Radio Newcastle and BBC South West, Lucy also worked as a broadcaster for ITV Tyne Tees and ITV News Tyne Tees during the 1980s. She has won two BAFTA awards during her stint on Granada Reports, one of which was for her coverage of the Hillsborough disaster.

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