As Sarah Greenhalgh prepares to take on the coveted role of 7NEWS Brisbane’s 6pm co-anchor, she’s also preparing for another monumental role — motherhood.
Currently 23 weeks pregnant, the award-winning journalist is embracing both challenges simultaneously, set to join the newsreading desk for the first time alongside Max Futcher.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Sarah Greenhalgh travelled to one of the towns in Italy worst hit by COVID-19.
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“It’s so exciting,” Sarah tells 7NEWS.com.au of her pregnancy.
“But once upon a time, I used to just go and go and go. Now it’s like, ‘No, you need to sit, you need to eat, and then you can do what you need to do’.”
Reflecting on her upcoming motherhood, she adds: “It’s so weird … it hasn’t sunk in. I’m like, ‘Oh, that means I’m actually going to be in charge of a human.’
”Historically, women in television have faced hurdles when balancing their careers and motherhood.”
Sarah is keenly aware of how things have improved for her generation.
“I’ve spoken to a lot of unbelievable women in the industry who said they felt real pressure to come back quickly from maternity leave and feared whether they would lose their jobs,” she says.
“But I think they’ve worked so hard, they’ve managed to change things for us.
“Management has been incredibly supportive, and the fact that they’ve promoted me knowing I’m starting this job six months pregnant is a great sign of how far we’ve come.”
Sarah’s journey to the 7NEWS desk started long before this role, though she admits journalism wasn’t always clear as a child.
Born and bred in the River City, she loved public speaking growing up, but it wasn’t until university that she found her passion for storytelling through TV journalism.
“I studied journalism at the University of Queensland, and we did a TV course.
“I remember the moment thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, this is it.’ I loved the way pictures told a story, and I realised how powerful the medium was.”
Her career (literally) took off while she was still finishing university, working as a traffic reporter from a helicopter.
“It was pretty cool to actually be working in the industry while I was finishing off my degree,” Sarah recalls.
She started her first reporting job in Mackay, followed by Cairns, where she covered major stories and met her now-husband, Billy.
“There were only four journalists in Mackay, so it was a real training ground. And my husband and I met in Cairns —he was working in radio when I was in TV.
“There’s a lot of great things that came out of those early days,” she says.
In 2015, Sarah joined 7NEWS Brisbane, spending five years there before her career took her to London as Seven’s European correspondent in December 2019.
The shinny-eyed journalist had just landed her “dream role” before one of the biggest events in the last century took place — the COVID pandemic.
“It was tough to suddenly be on the other side of the world, away from my family. But now I look back and realise we were at the epicentre of the biggest story in the world.”
Sarah’s time in Europe saw her covering historic events, from reporting on COVID-19 in Italy to the chaotic scenes of Geneva during the early days of the pandemic.
But it was covering the devastating Turkey-Syria earthquakes in 2023 that had the most profound impact on her.
“55,000 people died in that disaster, and I think about it a lot. I’ll never forget interviewing a little boy in hospital who lost his entire family. That story broke my heart.”
Journey to the newsdesk
Upon returning to Australia, Sarah pursued her next dream of long-form journalism, joining 7NEWS Spotlight in Sydney.
Working alongside veteran journalists Liam Bartlett and Michael Usher, Sarah brought her unique perspective to major investigations.
“It was a pinch-me moment, sitting between those two,” the award-winning journalist recalls.
“Being female brought a different energy to some of the stories, which I think was valuable.”
Now back in Brisbane, Sarah’s transition to the 7NEWS desk “happened quite fast”.
With a baby on the way, being close to family was a major factor in her decision.
“I expressed an interest in coming back to Brisbane, and then there was a vacancy. It all happened organically, but very fast,” she says.
As she steps into her new role, Sarah is thrilled to be working alongside longtime friend and co-presenter Max Futcher.
“Max and I go way back—we worked together earlier in our careers about 12 years ago.
“He’s always been supportive, sending me messages when I was covering major stories overseas.
“He’s got that adventurous nature too, so we bring a lot of similar experiences to the news desk.”
Sarah and Max will present their first bulletin together on Monday, October 21 at 6pm, alongside 7NEWS sports presenter Shane Webcke and meteorologist Tony Auden.