Leila McKinnon

Leila McKinnon (born 28 September 1972) is an Australian Journalist.

McKinnon is currently co-host of Weekend Today and is also a reporter and fill in presenter for Nine News and A Current Affair. She is also a panelist on the NRL Footy Show, and a book reviewer for the Australian Women’s Weekly.

Career

McKinnon began her career reporting part-time for The Sunday Telegraph in Brisbane, while finishing a journalism degree at Queensland University of Technology. In 1993 she accepted a cadetship at WIN Television in Rockhampton, before moving to WIN's Cairns bureau. In 1995, Leila began work with the Nine Network, reporting and presenting for Nine's Gold Coast News.^[1]

After three years she became a reporter for A Current Affair in Brisbane. A brief stint on a short-lived consumer affairs program followed, before she moved to Sydney and returned to the news department, in late 2001.^[1]

In February 2005, McKinnon was appointed news presenter for Today replacing Sharyn Ghidella. She remained news presenter of Today until June when Sharyn Ghidella was reinstated as news presenter once again. In August, she returned to present National Nine Morning News presenting the morning bulletin.^[2]

In March 2006, Leila relocated to Los Angeles with her husband, Australian businessman David Gyngell.^[3][4]

In 2007, McKinnon returned to Australia, as her husband David Gyngell was re-appointed as the CEO of the Nine Network. Since then she has presented the summer edition of A Current Affair.

In 2008, she also regularly filled-in on Nine News Morning Edition and Nine News Afternoon Edition.

In January 2009, it was announced that McKinnon will co-host Weekend Today alongside Cameron Williams, with Amber Sherlock and Michael Slater presenting the news and sport. The program began in early February, and was introduced to counteract Seven's Weekend Sunrise. The program later extended to Saturday mornings as well.

In December 2009, Leila co-hosted the Sydney New Year's Eve telecast alongside Cameron Williams.

In February 2010, McKinnon was a part of Nine's Wide World of Sports coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Leila began her career reporting part-time for The Sunday Telegraph in Brisbane, while finishing a journalism degree at Queensland University of Technology. In 1993 she accepted a cadetship at WIN Television in Rockhampton, before moving to WIN's Cairns bureau. In 1995, McKinnon began work with the Nine Network, reporting and presenting for Nine's Gold Coast News.

After three years she became a reporter for A Current Affair in Brisbane. A brief stint on a short-lived consumer affairs program followed, before McKinnon moved to Sydney and returned to the news department, in late 2001.

In February 2005, McKinnon was appointed news presenter for Today replacing Sharyn Ghidella. She remained news presenter of Today until June when Sharyn Ghidella was reinstated as news presenter once again. In August she returned to present National Nine Morning News presenting the morning bulletin.[2] In March 2006, McKinnon relocated to Los Angeles with her husband, Australian businessman David Gyngell.[3][4]

She travelled the US reporting for the Logie award winning show What's Good For You produced by Beyond Productions, before becoming a foreign correspondent for the Nine Network, where she reported from Guantanamo Bay, the Academy Awards, and the California wildfires which destroyed more than 1500 homes. McKinnon also interviewed stars including Tom Cruise, Beyonce Knowles, Tom Hanks, Jamie Foxx, Robin Williams, Pierce Brosnan, Susan Sarandon, Denzel Washington, and Jackie Chan.

In 2007, McKinnon returned to Australia, as her husband David Gyngell was re-appointed as the CEO of the Nine Network. Since then she has presented the summer edition of A Current Affair. In 2008, she also regularly filled-in on Nine News Morning Edition and Nine News Afternoon Edition.

In January 2009, it was announced that McKinnon will co-host Weekend Today alongside Cameron Williams, with Amber Sherlock and Michael Slater presenting the news and sport. The new program began in early February, and was introduced to counteract Seven's Weekend Sunrise. The program later extended to Saturday mornings as well. McKinnon presented the show from Victoria the morning after the Black Saturday, Australia’s mostly deadly bushfires.

In December 2009, Leila co-hosted the Sydney New Year's Eve telecast alongside Cameron Williams.

In February 2010, McKinnon was a part of Nine's Wide World of Sports coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

In 2011 she reported from the Queensland floods which killed 35 people and saw 75 percent of the state declared a disaster zone. McKinnon also hosted A Current Affair throughout Cyclone Yasi and it’s aftermath.

In April she reported from the Royal Wedding of Katherine Middleton and Prince William.

In 2012 McKinnon co-hosted Nine’s award winning coverage of the London Olympic Games and conducted the first live interview with Princes William and Harry. In 2011 and 2012 she wrote a weekly Rugby League column for NRL.com.

McKinnon is the editor of Australia's Favourite Recipes (2012), a cookbook which raises money for the charity Legacy and features the family recipes of ordinary Australians.

Personal Life

McKinnon was born in Iran to an English mother and a New Zealand father,[1] while her father was working as Service Manager to the late Shah of Iran's fleet of vehicles.[citation needed] Leila grew up in Brisbane, where she attended a south side public school, namely MacGregor State High School. In April 2012, McKinnon announced that she is pregnant with her first child and is due in October.[5] On 17 October 2012 at 2 a.m., McKinnon gave birth to a boy, Edmund "Ted" McKinnon Gyngell. On the same day her husband got Channel Nine out of a $3 billion debt. On 6 December 2013, Karl Stefanovic announced on the Today show that Leila was pregnant with her second child and she was presented with a bouquet of flowers.

References

External links

• Sydney Morning Herald report on wedding to David Gyngell, December 2004