Louise Minchin says BBC Breakfast exit was 'long time coming' but bosses were surprised

dailystar.co.uk:

Louise Minchin opened up about her exit from BBC Breakfast after hosting the show for nearly two decades on Channel 4's Steph's Packed Lunch.Louise,53, joined her former BBC co-host and friend Steph McGovern, 39, on Wednesday's (March 23) episode of Steph's show.The pair - who worked together on the BBC show for more than eight years together - opened up about her reasons for quitting last September and revealed it was "a long time coming."Louise said: "My boss at the time was very surprised when I told him I was going to leave.

Lots of people who watch BBC Breakfast were really surprised too."Steph recalled her reaction to the news, saying: "I was shocked.

Normally I know what is going on before everything happens."Comedian Russell Kane chipped in and joked that Louise should have announced she was leaving the show live on air before telling anyone else.Louise responded by saying: "Do you know what, I was really tempted."But I thought, let's manage this in a way that is nice.

But they were really nice to me when I left and I've left on good terms."Opening up about her decision to leave, Steph previously raised it was a combination of wanting more family time, not wanting to get up early anymore, an ankle injury and the impact of menopause.She said "I find the early morning really difficult and another winter of the dark mornings was not what I wanted to do anymore."Now, that sleep is disrupted, making me anxious and sometimes irritable about things which, pre-menopause, wouldn't have phased me."Louise's first ever appearance on BBC Breakfast was on Christmas Eve 2001 when she was a freelancer.She then went on to be one of the main presenters, working with Bill Turnbull as co-host and when he left, working alongside Dan.