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The former Today show reporter and Weekend Today host, 42, surprised viewers when he announced that he had decided to step back from his position at Channel 9 after 25 years. During an appearance on the Big Bros podcast, Stanaway explained that the job left him feeling burned out and his health issues were beginning to become “scary”. In the end, he realised enough was enough and he had to do what was best for himself, he said. “Physically, first and foremost, I was just getting sick a lot, pushing the envelope,” he admitted. “I had really bad gut issues, I was getting headaches, I wasn’t sleeping well, which is ironic, because I was so tired, but I just couldn’t sleep.” “It was scary. I was getting chest issues, like I had chest pain and a bit of anxiety as well,” he said. “When I finished work, I was going home because I was exhausted. I’d sit on the couch, go to bed.” Stanaway said that working such long hours meant that he was sacrificing his social life to the point where friends would stop inviting him to events because they knew he wouldn’t be able to show up for them. “In fact, every day was set an alarm, go to bed, wake up, go to work, and sometimes go to radio work, go to TV work in the same day, come home at seven o’clock, make my dinner, sit on the couch, go to bed,” he said. “That was all I was doing.” “I felt really guilty because I wasn’t seeing my mates,” he said. “I was just a write-off to my friends. They weren’t even bothering to invite me to birthdays because they knew I wasn’t available, and that was heartbreaking.” He first announced his shock departure in September in a statement as he admitted he had been dealing with a significant workload that he hoped to minimise. “It’s been a huge workload juggling both TV and being part of the Melbourne Nova breakfast team over the past couple of years,” said the TV star. “I am passionate about my new-found love for radio and have decided to give it priority moving forward, while I also look to strike a better work-life balance.”
