Carrie Bickmore’s announcement that she’ll be leaving The Project at the end of November is a big loss for Network Ten, but it’s an even bigger loss for Australian viewers.
Sharing the news live on air last night, Bickmore described the decision as the hardest one she’s ever had to make.
“There’s so much I’m going to miss,” she said. “I’m going to miss my best mates on the desk, the job itself, which is so incredibly fulfilling [and] the wonderful viewers over the past 13 years.
“It’s no secret this show has become a second home to me and I couldn’t be more thankful to everyone that has been involved on- and off-screen.”
While Bickmore conceded she hasn’t yet firmed up her next plans, she said she was excited for the future and to spend more time with her family– adding that when she started on The Project in 2009 her son Olly was just one and now he’s fifteen.
It’s a big loss for the news program which too often gets dismissed as “fluff”, despite its deliverance of something vitally important: accessibility. Something which Carrie Bickmore has been central to.
For more than a decade, Bickmore has delivered and commentated on news, ensuring it hits all corners of the country with care and compassion.
Her gift as a journalist and presenter (at the risk of sounding saccharine) has always been her heart. She has an easy way of getting to the soul of a story, by making herself vulnerable in telling it.
As a viewer, I have seen Carrie Bickmore cry more times than I can recount. From exposing the atrocities of the Taliban in Afghanistan to reflecting on the moment that police recovered missing four-year-old, Cleo Smith after she was abducted late last year.
Too often journalists, like politicians, believe that strength is best displayed through detachment; that reporting should be the facts laid bare. But my frank opinion is to get to the heart of any story, reporters have to show that they have one too. Bickmore has never been a sensationalist or self-indulgent– she’s just human. And for viewers, that holds the greatest appeal.
But Bickmore isn’t a lightweight either. Over the years she has stuck her nose out countless times against her fellow male panelists, despite continued work with them.
Shock jock panelist, Steve Price was put squarely in his place just a week ago by Peter Helliar and Bickmore when he doubled down on comments about the AFLW not being worthy of the support behind it.
And who can forget the time she took on Peter Van Onselen over his column criticising former Australian of the Year, Grace Tame for not smiling for then-PM Scott Morrison.
Joining forces with political journalist Amy Remeikis, Bickmore slammed PvO for his controversial take, deriding his opinion as “unhelpful to the conversation”.
“When I look to the government I don’t have any hope at all,” Bickmore said. “But then I look at people like you (Amy) and Grace Tame, people who are not willing to play the game, I have so much hope.
“I remember growing up in an era when you would just smile and play ball with men in power, and I just think how incredible, we have a new generation of women coming through that aren’t gonna play that game.”
And indeed, Bickmore has never played that game. Perhaps her most important legacy is showing a generation of women what’s possible.
Alongside ACA host Tracey Grimshaw (who also retires this year) and Leigh Sales, (who resigned after the recent Federal Election), Bickmore proves that sitting in the host role of a primetime news program isn’t out of reach. Better yet? You can be yourself and get there.