Channel Nine has confirmed that Jayne Azzopardi will replace retiring The Today Show newsreader Brooke Boney.
The seasoned television presenter will pick up the mantle after the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Jayne has co-hosted Weekend Today alongside Clint Stanaway since April 2023. For the eight years prior to that, she was the news presenter for Weekend Today.
After five years on the Today show, Brooke revealed that she had resigned from her role in March, citing a desire to further her education as the reason for stepping back from her career on television.
The 37-year-old joined Channel Nine’s flagship breakfast program in 2019 as an entertainment presenter before migrating to the role of news presenter in January 2023.
And now, the journalist will depart the North Sydney studios where Today is filmed for London where she will study at the prestigious Oxford University.
“Guys, I have some very big news for you this morning,” she said live on air on March 22nd.
“I have been offered a place at Oxford University later this year, which means I’ll be leaving the [Today] show after the Olympics.”
“I don’t want to go into too much right now because there’ll be plenty of time for goodbyes and thank yous, but I just wanted to share that good/bad news with you all this morning.”
Her Today colleagues were quick to share in Brooke’s excitement, “We are very, very proud of you. We know that you’ve wanted to do this for so long,” said Karl Stefanovic.
“You know what, it’s a big deal to break away from something as secure as this. To make your dreams come true and to take that step, to bite it off, is a testament to you as a person and says everything about you.”
Sarah Abo added: “It’s such a good opportunity.”
What is Brooke Boney studying at Oxford University?
The proud Gamilaroi woman already has a Bachelor of Communication majoring in Journalism from the University of Technology under her belt.
And now, Brooke will add another notch to this belt after attaining her Masters in Public Policy from Oxford University.
“I settled on the Masters of Public Policy because I thought this is sort of what fits best with my journalistic career thus far,” Brooke continued, explaining her decision to leave Today while live on air.
“I thought if I don’t do this now, then I’m probably never going to. I am at that age where if I leave now and go and study and come back, I’ll still only be 38.
“That leaves plenty of time to sort of carve out the next part of what my career is. I’d love to be able to come back and still do things with Nine and figure out what that looks like.”
According to the Oxford University website, prospective applicants must “at a minimum” hold a “first-class or strong upper second-class undergraduate degree with honours in any discipline.”
They must also have an “outstanding academic record” and an “impressive upward trajectory in performance.”
Given Brooke’s impressive resume so far on the likes of Today, Triple J, and NITV, it comes as no surprise that she was accepted into the two-year course.
