After being the host of “Inside Edition” for 30 years, Deborah Norville has signed off from the program.
Having anchored the show for three decades, Norville’s final episode aired last May 21. The host addressed the audience in the closing minutes of the show surrounded by her colleagues and said, “I am literally swimming in gratitude.”
“Since I announced my departure last month, I have been floored by the response of my peers and by you, our viewers,” she stated. “I’ve stayed this long because you welcomed me and the stories that we tell. I know Inside has been a companion to many of you, and you’ve told me that you’ll miss our daily visits. I’m going to miss them too.
“In my very first job in television, a woman I worked with told me I didn’t belong there. I have spent the last 47 years trying to prove her wrong,” she continued. “And so my thought is this: Believe in yourself when it seems no one else does, because you may be amazed where that confidence will take you. Thank you all. Thank you so much.”
Norville mentioned earlier in the episode to not cry because it’s ending. “Rejoice because it happened. That phrase has been echoing in my head because today is my last day on Inside Edition.”
Celebrity shoutouts were featured in the episode as well as interviews with Norville’s friends and family.
During the April 2 episode of Inside Edition, the news anchor celebrated her 30 years on the show and announced her departure. Joining back in 1995, Norville serves as the longest-serving female anchor on national TV.
The journalist shared a video montage of her time on the program on Instagram before her big farewell, pointing out that she helmed shows longer than other TV icons like Barbara Walters, Walter Cronkite, Jane Pauley, Oprah Winfrey, and Johnny Carson.
“That first day in 1995…I had no idea I would be making TV history,” the onscreen caption reads. “I am truly blessed. Thank you everyone.”
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