I’m through with being the belle of the bells, says Jackie Bird
SHE has been the face of the BBC’s Hogmanay Live for two decades.
But the countdown has now begun to find a replacement for host Jackie Bird after she announced she will not bring in the bells for the broadcaster this year.
It comes just months after the 57-yearold anchor stepped down from the corporation’s flagship news show Reporting Scotland.
Miss Bird confirmed at the weekend that she has declined the offer of a live ten-minute slot during a revamped version of the show, which last year won the ratings war with close to half a million viewers by midnight.
The new-look programme will see live coverage cut from one hour to only 30 minutes, with the rest pre-recorded.
It is understood long-running show stalwarts Phil Cunningham and Aly Bain will also be missing when the broadcaster brings in 2020.
Miss Bird told the Sunday Mail: ‘All I can say is BBC Scotland are reworking the evening and are broadcasting a prerecorded programme.
‘Of course I know what it is, but it’s not fair on them to let the cat out of the bag.
‘They asked me to cover the live insert from Edinburgh, which is around the midnight hour. That didn’t feel right and I declined.
‘Hogmanay is a hugely prestigious night for BBC Scotland and they’ve decided to rework it, which is completely their prerogative. I wish them well and hope it’s a huge success.’
Last year, 800,000 viewers tuned in to the BBC, while STV’s Hogmanay programme, presented by Lulu and pre-recorded in October, failed to win over the audience.
One critic at the time said it had ‘all the atmosphere of a doctor’s waiting room’.
Miss Bird was replaced at Reporting Scotland by Laura Miller, 38, consumer affairs correspondent for The Nine on the BBC Scotland channel.
She spent 11 years at STV as a reporter, producer and then a presenter before joining BBC Scotland last year, latterly fronting the Friday edition of The Nine with John Beattie.