Broadcasting legend, Mishal Husain, will leave the BBC in the new year after 26 years at the corporation

BBC legend, Mishal Husain, has quit the corporation after 26 years in an emotional statement.

Mishal, 51, has been a presenter on the Radio 4 Today programme for the last 11 years and hosts The Today Debate, as well as the recent BBC UK general election debates. She joined the BBC in 1998 and was previously a presenter on BBC World News.

After it was revealed the journalist would be leaving the corporation, next year, Mishal said: “My time at the BBC has involved many memorable moments, going to places I would never otherwise have seen, witnessing history and being part of live, national conversation on Radio 4.

“I will always be grateful for the opportunities the BBC gave me, and wish the organisation and everyone who is part of it the very best.”

Huw Edwards: Teen who sparked ex-BBC star’s downfall reacts to case

Mishal Husain, will leave the BBC in the new year ( 
Image:
BBC)

Editor of Today, Owenna Griffiths, said: “Mishal is not only a formidable journalist and first-rate presenter, she is an extremely generous and thoughtful colleague. It has been my great privilege to work alongside her and, along with the Today team, I’ll miss her enormously but wish her all the very best in her new venture.”

Meanwhile, CEO of BBC News Deborah Turness, shared: “Mishal leaves the BBC with an incredible journalistic legacy. After more than a decade on the Today programme she is going with our gratitude and affection and we wish her the best of luck in her new chapter. I very much hope the BBC and Mishal will get the chance to work together again one day.”

“Ours is an ever more complex world but the desire for thoughtful conversations crosses all borders. I look forward to working with a new team at Bloomberg – the place which gave me my first job in journalism.”

Mishal presents the Radio 4 Today show, which discusses news and current affairs, alongside Emma Barnett, Justin Webb, Amol Rajan and Nick Robinson. The broadcaster previously hinted at her exit from the programme in an interview with The Sunday Times in June during which she said she was “thinking about what is beyond Today” and was “wondering what the next act of my career might look like.”

The journalist, who was paid up to £345,000 last year, will remain on air into the new year but after that she will move to front a new interview series at financial and data media company Bloomberg, as editor-at-large of Bloomberg Weekend Edition.

Speaking about her new appointment, Mishal said: “I am delighted to be fronting a new interview show that will reach audiences in different formats as part of the exciting plans for Bloomberg Weekend Edition.

The mum-of-three started her BBC career as a producer in 1998, becoming a presenter on BBC World News in 2001 and working both in the studio and on location, from the US to the Middle East, South Asia, Singapore and China. In 2014 she was the first reporter to enter the school attacked by the Taliban in Peshawar, Pakistan, and in 2017 her engagement interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was viewed around the world.