EXCLUSIVE: The inside story of Tracy Vo’s sudden departure from the Today show after just four months – as she returns to Nine News Perth
Newsreader Tracy Vo’s departure from the Today show this week came as a surprise to viewers, but her colleagues at Channel Nine had anticipated it for months.
The journalist, 37, announced on Tuesday she was returning to Perth to be closer to her family just four months after moving to Sydney to join the breakfast program.
Daily Mail Australia understands Tracy had a clause in her contract that gave her the option to return to Nine News Perth if she ‘wasn’t happy’ at Today.
No surprise: Channel Nine newsreader Tracy Vo’s (pictured) departure from the Today show this week may have come as a shock to fans, but her colleagues had anticipated it for months
Multiple industry sources claim it was Tracy’s decision to leave Today and she wasn’t forced out by management.
One insider said: ‘Tracy never gunned for the job. She was headhunted and brought out from Perth. Word is they begged her to take it.
‘Everybody at Nine, including [head of news] Darren Wick thinks she’s great, and they were all confident she would stay in Sydney after her first six months.’
Another source said: ‘She’s very popular at Nine and well-liked in Perth – which is partly why they put her on Today, to try and attract more viewers from there.’
Emotional exit: Daily Mail Australia understands Tracy had a six-month proviso in her contract, where she could leave Sydney and return to Nine News Perth if she wasn’t happy, but she ‘never gunned’ for the role to start with, and only accepted it after bosses ‘begged’ her
‘Tracy never settled in Sydney, was living in temporary accommodation and told colleagues she “couldn’t hack it”,’ a source said on Wednesday. Pictured: The Today panel
But Tracy apparently had trouble ‘settling in’ after arriving in Sydney in January and told colleagues she feared she ‘couldn’t hack it’ on the Today show.
A third source said: ‘Tracy never settled in Sydney. She is very family orientated, and her family is in Perth.
‘Apparently, she was living in temporary accommodation and hadn’t signed a lease, which suggests she always had Perth in the back of her mind.’
Tracy is said to have ‘freaked out’ as the coronavirus pandemic worsened and state borders closed, prompting her decision to return home.
Family first: Sources say as the coronavirus pandemic has worsened, Tracy ‘freaked out’ and quickly made her decision to return back home to be with her family. Pictured with her father
One source said: ‘The person doing her old job [at Nine News Perth] was only temporary, so she asked to go back to that, and Nine allowed her to.’
Another added: ‘She went to Perth for a holiday, but COVID-19 blew up and then it became a more permanent thing to transfer back to the Perth newsroom.’
Daily Mail Australia understands Tracy may eventually return to the Today show, but if she does ‘it will be her decision’.
![Back home: One source said, 'The person doing her old job [on Nine News Perth] was only temporary, so she asked to go back to that, and Nine allowed her to'](https://i2.wp.com/i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/04/08/06/26940404-8198867-image-a-5_1586322206557.jpg?resize=634%2C793&ssl=1)
Back home: One source said, ‘The person doing her old job [on Nine News Perth] was only temporary, so she asked to go back to that, and Nine allowed her to’
Tracy has been replaced on Today by sports reporter Alex Cullen. It hasn’t been confirmed if or when she will return to the show.
She will resume her old job presenting Nine News Perth from Wednesday, as well as hosting the local weekend news.
‘I felt it was the best thing to head back west to be close to my family at this uncertain time,’ Tracy told TV Blackbox on Monday.
‘I just want to make sure everyone stays safe, looks out for each other, and of course, always practise social distancing.’
New role: Tracy has been replaced on Today by sports reporter Alex Cullen (pictured). It hasn’t been confirmed if or when she will return to the show