Veteran broadcaster Jay-Jay Harvey is calling time on her 23-year tenure at The Edge.
In an email sent out to Mediaworks staff on Tuesday morning, Harvey revealed she will be taking a break before starting "the next phase of [her] MediaWorks radio career in 2018".
"After 23 incredible and memorable years at The Edge, I have decided it’s time for me to move on and take on a new challenge at Mediaworks," she said.
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"This has been a massive life-changing decision, but I have been at The Edge for more than half my life and I feel very ready now to end this chapter and start a new one."
It is not yet known what new role Harvey will take up at Mediaworks in 2018, but she promises to keep fans up-to-date on her various social media channels.
In an emotional speech on-air on Tuesday morning, Harvey said The Edge was "in [her] blood", and reminisced on "the great times, bad times and scandalous times".
"Our incredible listeners are so supportive and amazing, and I know that some will be sad - and I'm sorry about that - but I'm really, really happy to be moving on," she said, in a flood of tears.
"My time is up and I just want to be doing something new. I do actually have something lined up, and I'm really excited for it."
Harvey also rejected that her move has anything to do with her split earlier this year from husband Dom Harvey, who still broadcasts alongside her on The Edge Breakfast despite their divorce.
Harvey's announcement comes just weeks after she took a hiatus from The Edge following an alleged sexual assault in an Auckland taxi. She also took a break at the end of 2016, after an ongoing struggle with depression took a turn for the worst.
Mediaworks says Harvey will remain on The Edge Breakfast alongside ex-husband Dom Harvey and Clinton Randell until just before Christmas.
From next year, she will be replaced by fellow Edge broadcaster Megan Annear, who will join the breakfast team from November 27.
Leon Wratt, group content director for Mediaworks' music stations, said Harvey is "leaving the station at the very top of her game" after starting out with it when it was launched back in 1994.
"I've had the privilege of working with Jay-Jay since the early days of The Edge, where she took the station from a regional audience of 15,000 to 650,000 listeners across the country," he said.
"Her longevity with The Edge Breakfast is testament to that and she's leaving the station at the very top of her game.
"We acknowledge that it’s time for Jay-Jay to have a break and move on to a new chapter and we look forward to her joining the wider MediaWorks radio family next year."
Newshub.
