Carrie Bickmore devastated her fans when she announced last month that she was leaving The Project after 13 years.
And now, Carrie has bid viewers and The Project team farewell in an emotional speech that had her questioning her decision to resign. But as the confetti cannons fired, there was no turning back.
“Is it too late to change my mind?” Carrie joked.
Carrie Bickmore’s last episode of The Project will air November 30.
(Image: Ten)She continued to thank her family and friends, including her husband Chris and their three children, who supported her throughout her career.
“To Chris, thank you for everything. Your guidance and advice over the years, your amazing production skills,” she said.
“This show has given us so much. We wouldn’t have our beautiful prophets if it wasn’t for The Project.”
Carrie turned to her children Ollie, Evie and Adelaide: “You guys are my world. Love you guys.”
“To my parents, and my friends and family. It certainly takes a village to help a mum of three do a job like this on TV and I couldn’t have done it without all of you. So thank you so much for picking up the pieces.”
WATCH: Carrie Bickmore’s final goodbye. Article continues after video.
“I remember early on in the show, being told that my outfits were perhaps too much, that people couldn’t look at what I was wearing and listen to what I was saying at the same time.
She gestured to her stunning red feathered mini dress by Rebecca Vallance costing around $629: “Take this. I proved them wrong.”
Furthermore, Carrie shared a video of her cleaning out her desk on Instagram the day before her final goodbye and, again, the Logie award-winning presenter began to tear up.
“Just cleaning out my Project desk. I’m not crying, you are,” Carrie said in the video.
She then hugs a “wonderful” co-worker who replied with: “I’m crying. A lot.”
“I’m not crying, you are.”
(Image: Ten)“It’s so weird, my life packed up in a box,” Carrie then said, her voice cracking.
Carrie will be the last member of the original line-up of The Project to leave the show.
Dave Hughes and Charlie Pickering were Carrie’s original co-hosts back in July 2009, when the show first launched with the name, The 7pm Project.
Carrie is the last member of The Project’s original host line-up to leave.
(Image: Ten)“I still remember the first episode,” Carrie said at the 2019 TV WEEK Logie Awards.
‘”It was terrible, and Hughesy remarked at the end of it that that was his career done. I remember thinking, ‘S**t, if that’s what Hughesy is saying, I have no hope!'”
And yet, The Project persevered and became an award-winning, long-lasting show.
WATCH: Carrie Bickmore announces she is leaving The Project. Article continues after video.
Hughesy left The Project in 2013 and Charlie left in 2014.
Shortly after Carrie announced her departure from the show, Lisa Wilkinson – who joined The Project in 2018 – and Peter Helliar – who joined The Project in 2014 – announced they were also leaving.
This leaves Waleed Aly, who’s co-hosted The Project since 2015, on the panel from Monday to Thursday. However, he will be joined by Carrie’s replacement, Sarah Harris from 2023.
Sarah Harris is set to replace Carrie from 2023.
(Image: Ten)Sarah has hosted Studio 10 since its inception in 2013, and she shocked viewers with the news that she was leaving the show for The Project on air.
“I’m beyond excited to be joining one of Australia’s most iconic and agenda driving shows. The Project does news like no other program in Australia and it’s exactly the kind of fun and fearless TV I love to make,” Sarah said.
Of his new co-host, Waleed said: ‘”She’s smart. She’s warm. She’s great fun. That’s the trifecta for The Project. Everyone who’s worked with Sarah raves about her, and I can’t wait to be one of them.”
It still remains to be seen who will fill the gaps left by Lisa and Peter.
