'TV legend' presents South Today for final time

BBC presenter and journalist Sally Taylor has presented the regional news programme she hosted for almost four decades for the final time.

She joined South Today in 1987 having previously worked at Spotlight, the regional news programme for the south west of England.

Talking to former South Today presenter Roger Finn, she said it was the "right time" to leave the programme.

It is believed she had been the longest-serving female presenter of a flagship regional television news programme before her retirement.

During a walk in the New Forest, Taylor discussed her decision to retire with former colleague Finn.

"I have to say, the decision was the most stressful thing," she told her long-time friend.

"Once I'd made that decision, well it was amazing, I woke up in the middle of the night and I thought 'what's that feeling', and I suddenly realised it was the weight off my shoulders."

When asked what it had been like being under the spotlight for almost four decades, she said: "I just treat everybody how they treat me. I'm just a normal person doing a normal job.

"I sometimes think I'm so lucky to have found something that I can do well and feel that I can do well and enjoy it.

"People find endings difficult, but I look at them and I see a new beginning."

Commenting on his friend's career, Finn simply said: "Bravo."

During her career, she covered 10 general elections, reported from Bosnia at the end of the war with military medics and broadcast live from Antarctica after travelling there on HMS Endurance.

In 2005, Taylor was appointed an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to regional broadcasting.

Ahead of her final show, fellow BBC South presenter Alexis Green spoke to people across the region to hear how Taylor had impacted their lives over the past 40 years.

Anne Chamberlayne, from Wareham, met the presenter in 2005 during a Children in Need event with the Girl Guides in Bovington, Dorset.

"[She was] so fantastic and came round and spoke to all of the girls and posed for photos," Ms Chamberlayne said.

"They just made it very special for us."

Long-time South Today viewer Mike Stoddart, from Southampton, added: "You [Sally Taylor] are an icon, an absolute TV legend and you will be sorely missed by me and so many others."

You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.