Bloodbath at Channel Seven as three popular stars jump ship to Network 10 for new investigative show in the works
Seven's award-winning former foreign correspondent Amelia Brace, 7News Sydney reporter Bill Hogan and Spotlight producer-reporter Denham Hitchcock all resigned from the network last week, The Australian has reported.
They are reportedly set to join a new investigative show set up by Channel 10's news boss Martin White.
Brace and Hitchcock exited Seven's studio in Sydney within hours of quitting and are set to start their new jobs at Ten on Monday morning while Hogan will begin with the network in three weeks time.
Ten has reportedly offered Brace a $50,000 increase on the $220,000 a year she had been getting paid.
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In a message to colleagues on Friday, she said: 'It feels off to not have an official 'last day' to say goodbye, but it's best for me to just fade away for now.'
'Stand up for yourselves, and each other … and think of me every time you have to find a f**king case study.'
Meanwhile, Hitchcock announced his return to work at Seven in an Instagram post back in February.
He had been living on a catamaran since stepping away from 7News Spotlight in 2022 and recently resettled in Sydney with his young family.
'I'm back. It's time to wash some of the salt out - and get back to what I do best,' he began the post.
'Back in 2019 the network asked me to start what would eventually become the Spotlight program with one producer and one cameraman - and as the limited shows proved successful - the team quickly grew and it would turn into the network's flagship program.
'I stepped away for a few years to go sailing with the family - and have returned to find a new EP, a new team, new reporters, a fresh energy, an abundance of stories, and some genuine excitement about the year ahead.'
He ended the message by asking followers and fans to send 'research ideas'.
'But please - researched ideas - not just wild theories,' he warned, before adding: 'Keep an eye on @7newsspotlight it's going to be quite the year.'
Hitchcock short return to Seven came after he welcomed his second child in December with his wife Mari.
He made headlines in January 2022 when he resigned from the Seven Network to embark on a sailing trip with his young family.
He returned to screens in May 2023, in the true crime documentary 'Who Killed Marea?', which examines a 20-year-old cold case.
Hitchcock led the Sky News investigation into the mysterious and brutal slaying of Marea Yann who was killed in her home in rural Victoria in 2003.
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