Helen Kapalos says sacking from Channel 10 was insensitive

The popular presenter, 41, was axed immediately after the 5pm bulletin on November 9 in a brief, clinical meeting, the day before she flew to the US on holidays.

Speaking at length for the first time after returning to Melbourne on Friday, Kapalos revealed it came as a bolt out of the blue and left her in momentary shock.

The bombshell was dropped on her by news director Dermot O’Brien and the human resources manager, and within an hour she had packed up her office and left.

Ten had initially planned to tell her during her holidays on November 12, at the same time as other readers including Bill Woods, but decided to do it in person.

She said she had felt her job was safe after asking senior managers just weeks earlier about rumours of a national Sydney-based bulletin, and was assured there wouldn’t be one.

“It was done fairly swiftly, I think I had sent my best friend a text by 6.15,” she said.

“It was explained to me that they were going to a single-reader format and that I wouldn’t be part of that format, and that those changes would take place some time in December, and there really was no point in returning before that time.

“They offered the redundancy and explained I wouldn’t be required back on air and that there were no other roles for me.

“I asked how they arrived at the decision but there was no response that I remember to that. Then shock set in, and a bit of disappointment and hurt.”

She was so oblivious to what was coming that upon entering the meeting she had said: “Can we make this quick? I have to go to the post office.”

Kapalos is one of the most high-profile of the network’s redundancies as part of cost cuts to battle a slump in ratings and losses in advertising revenue.

Her security pass was cancelled and email account closed and she even had to announce it herself, tweeting before she boarded the plane: “Fall down seven times. Get up eight. Big love to my supporters.”

“It wasn’t done in a spiteful, negative way, it was done in an insensitive way,” Kapalos said.

“I would have loved the opportunity to be able to thank viewers, to farewell colleagues, to properly pack up my office and belongings and wardrobe.”

But she is determined to stay positive and said she holds no bitterness towards the embattled network, focusing instead on her next chapter.

She has had talks with Foxtel, Sky, Al Jazeera, CBS and CNN, and was offered a summer radio gig with Triple M.

She said she was hoping to be able to announce a new Melbourne-based TV role by the end of this week.

Co-anchor Mal Walden had been “really distressed” in the one conversation they’d had, Kapalos said, and she would miss him the most.

The outpouring of support from the public and colleagues, even from rival newsreaders Peter Hitchener and Jennifer Keyte, has moved her and buoyed her spirits.

Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett sent her a text message saying, “I’m sorry to hear about your boning”, while strangers on the street have said “we love you”.

Her mobile phone ran hot with support, and she racked up a $2600 bill within her first four days in the US.

“There wasn’t any time to digest it in a negative way because of all the goodwill and public sentiment. I felt almost like it lifted me… out of the mess,” Kapalos said.

“What it established for me importantly was that I had a genuine connection with viewers which is what you strive for as a presenter.

“From that point on, I thought I had to look ahead. I’m a positive force, and positive forces can’t be extinguished.”

Kapalos said it had been a turbulent year at Ten, but hoped the embattled network could “find their feet”.

She would not buy into suggestions of sexism in the industry – “I’ve seen men treated just as shabbily as women” – pointing out that male readers had also been sent packing.

“I felt like it was a business decision, I didn’t take it personally whatsoever … if he (Walden) had a year contract it was probably a sensible decision to keep him on,” she said.

“Obviously I wasn’t ecstatic about not being on there with him but I didn’t feel that there was any sexism with that decision at all.”

Despite some reports, Kapalos said she did not plan to take legal action over her sacking as she was grateful for her time at Ten.

Welcome distractions have included volunteering in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy, and reporting on her blog.

Upon returning home, she has filmed a part in a movie for Tropfest, and made an appearance at the Melbourne Victory game on Friday night.

Ten spokesman Neil Shoebridge said the decision was “no reflection” on Kapalos but a cost-cutting measure as part of the move to single newsreaders, starting from tomorrow’s bulletin.

“We made the best efforts to handle this in the best way we could,” he said.