Channel Seven filmed an expensive photoshoot with axed Queensland newsreader Sharyn Ghidella, just weeks before she was fired from the network.
Ghidellla, 58, took part in a lavish photoshoot with her former co-anchor Max Futcher, in which they promoted the Seven 6pm Brisbane news bulletin.
However, shortly after taking part in the shoot Ghidella received a phone call informing her the network was ending her employment with them, after 17 years.
The firing is said to have come as a surprise to Ghidella, who believed her employment to be secure since the network was paying for a costly photoshoot with her and Futcher, reports The Australian.
On the day Ghidella was let go, she was scheduled to take part in another shoot promoting Brisbane’s upcoming EKKA show, with her involvement in the production abruptly cancelled.
Ghidella made her feelings known to staff shortly after being let go, sending a scathing internal memo which read: ‘You might have already worked this out… But I think that promo we just shot, might need a little tweaking.’
Last week, the veteran presenter was axed from the network, after almost four decades working in the news industry.
Ghidella, the face of Seven News in Queensland since 2007, confirmed the news in a fiery Facebook post on Friday.
She said her ‘tap on the shoulder’ finally came while she was at the salon, admitting it was a ‘relief’ of sorts after several anxious weeks of media job cuts.
But she was determined not to go quietly as she took aim at the failing network for prioritising gimmicks like astrology readings over keeping veteran talent.
‘When you work in TV for as long as I have, not a day goes by when you aren’t expecting the proverbial tap on the shoulder… After 38 years, my shoulder tap has finally come,’ Ghidella began.
‘It wasn’t quite how I expected it to end at Channel Seven. I was actually sitting at the hairdressers for work, when I got the call informing me, that after 17 years with the network, my time was up.’
Ghidella then said her recent time at the network had been ‘miserable’ and she was glad to be heading out the door.
‘While somewhat saddened by this decision, there is also some sense of relief. As has been widely reported, the past couple of weeks in TV has, sadly, been a miserable affair,’ she wrote.
Ghidella added she was not a fan of the network’s rebranding of its news programming, which will see comedian Mark Humphries doing a comedy skit, and ‘Astro Tash’ start an astrology report.
Anthony De Ceglie – the controversial blow-in from Seven’s WA newspaper business who now runs the television news division said in a statement: ‘Sharyn has made a significant contribution to Seven over the past 17 years.’
‘We are grateful for her hard work and are sorry to see her go. She leaves with sincere thanks from everyone at Seven and our very best wishes for the future.’
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