BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg thanks fans for their ‘kind messages’ as she returns to TV show after four-week absence following death of her father
- Ms Kuenssberg last hosted the show on October 1 at the Tory party conference
- She took some time off after her father Nick passed away later that evening
BBC presenter Laura Kuenssberg has thanked fans for their ‘kind messages’ as she returns to TV screens following death of her father.
Ms Kuenssberg returned to her flagship programme Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg this morning after being absent from the show for four weeks.
She last presented the political talk show on October 1 when she interviewed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the Conservative party conference but took some time off after her father Nick Kuenssberg passed away later that evening.
The BBC journalist missed four episodes of the show, with her colleague and Newsnight presenter Victoria Derbyshire filling in while she was away.
Ms Kuenssberg tweeted ahead of her return to the show this morning: ‘Looking forward to being back on #bbclaurak this Sunday – thank you very much for all the kind messages in the last few weeks, and to @vicderbyshire for holding the fort!’
BBC presenter Laura Kuenssberg (pictured) has thanked fans for their ‘kind messages’ as she returns to TV screens following death of her father
Ms Kuenssberg’s father Nick (pictured) died following an illness on October 1 at the age of 80
Ms Kuenssberg’s father Nick died following an illness on October 1 at the age of 80.
He was widely recognised as one of Scotland’s leading business figures who built his career in the textile industry and was awarded an OBE in 2004.
He was also well known for his involvement in the arts and environmental industry, previously standing as Chairman of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Deputy Chair of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.
Mr Kuenssberg has three children, including his daughter Laura, his son David who is a director general at the Home Office and other daughter Joanna who works as a senior executive at Shell.
Laura Kuenssberg took over the BBC’s Sunday morning TV slot from Andrew Marr in September 2022 after stepping down as BBC Political Editor.
Guests on the show today included actor Sarah Snook, who played Shiv Roy in the HBO hit Succession, Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden and broadcaster Piers Morgan.
The broadcaster, who lives in east London with her husband, management consultant James Kelly, announced she was leaving her role as BBC political editor after seven years in December 2021 to take on her own show, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.
Laura Kuenssberg missed four episodes of the show, with her colleague and Newsnight presenter Victoria Derbyshire (pictured) filling in while she was away
Ms Kuenssberg returned to the show today where her guests included actor Sarah Snook, who played Shiv Roy in the HBO hit Succession, Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden (pictured on todya’s programme) and broadcaster Piers Morgan
The BBC and Kuenssberg faced criticism on the launch episode last year for booking comedian Joe Lycett, who went on to mock Liz Truss days before her short-lived term as PM.
The then Foreign Secretary’s interview was followed by sarcastic applause from Lycett who then claimed to be ‘very right wing’ despite his frequent criticism of the Tory party and the government.
On the one year anniversary of the show’s launch earlier this year it was revelaed that the programme had seen a drop in viewers to 1.2million, 700,000 down from the peak of Andrew Marr’s morning programme.
Ms Kuenssberg later dimissed the figures saying that they were ‘just not true’, and her show has had an average of 1.5million viewers since taking over in September last year.
The BBC also hit back at the reports, saying the figures failed to take into account catch-up viewers and that it was ‘meaningless’ to compare the programme to Andrew Marr’s peak audience at the height of the pandemic.
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