County Durham’s Rachel Sweeney recently announced that she would be leaving her role as North East reporter at GB News – here’s where she is going next.
The County Durham-born presenter, who spent 13 years at Tyne Tees, was the first regional reporter appointed by the 24-hour news channel when it launched last year.
In a statement on Twitter on the evening of August 11, she wrote: "I have made the decision to leave my role as North East of England reporter at GB News.
"I am grateful for the year I have had and wish the team every success.
"It has been an honour to share stories from my beloved North East on a national platform. Thank you to everyone who has supported me.
"I have had a suspicious number of calls today, so I think the news is already out.
Read more: GB News reporter from County Durham announces she is leaving channel
"When one chapter ends, another one opens..."
However, Ms Sweeney has now announced her major career role as she joins Steph’s Packed Lunch as an assistant producer.
In a statement on Facebook yesterday, the former presenter said she was “so excited” for the upcoming role.
She added: “The show is brilliant for representation and real-life talking points. I'll always be looking for your stories so please continue to keep me posted on what matters to you.”
“Thank you to @StephLunch @VivekSharmaTV @matjscott for taking a chance on me!”
Rachel is from a mining family and went to Framwellgate School in Durham and, although she loved her three years studying broadcast journalism at Cheltenham, she couldn’t wait to return.
Her parents are comedienne and radio presenter Sue Sweeney and former footballer Ian Sweeney. She married Chris, an electrician, and they have a son, Archie.
Speaking to the Echo last year about her time on GB News, Ms Sweeney said: “Although I feel I have a great relationship with North-East viewers I don’t think their voice is loud enough. GB News was looking for someone in this patch, to give it a voice and I just felt this is my calling, this is my time to help them shout about what they’re doing.
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“I think on a regional level our news is excellent but you rarely see North-East stories on national news unless it is about benefits or something and there is more to the region than that.
“People are starting to look at the North-East in a different way for the first time, I’m really proud to be in a place that celebrates that.”
She was proud to report on 14,000 new jobs being created at electric vehicle giga factories and being the only national reporter with a local accent to interview business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng at Sunderland.
And she was delighted to prove Hartlepool United fans wrong by ditching her planned story and spending the night on the Marina, to cover the club’s play-off win and promotion to League Two with presenters Darren McCaffrey and Kirsty Gallagher instead.
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