"I have decided to make the tough decision to step away from this role as morning anchor."
By Kevin Slane
Boston 25 News anchor Sara Underwood, a fixture in the Boston TV news market for more than 20 years, is signing off for now.
Underwood announced on Thursday that she will step away from her full-time role as anchor of the Boston25 Morning Show from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. in order to spend more time with her family. Her last day will be Friday, Aug. 27.
“After months of thoughtful conversations with my family and very dear friends and station management, I have decided to make the tough decision to step away from this role as morning anchor, the full-time role here,” Underwood told co-anchor Gene Lavanchy.
Underwood, who is married and has two daughters with Boston sports radio host Mike Felger, said that with the couple’s daughter Emma heading to college next year, she wanted to be available to her night and day to answer the “tough questions.”
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“This is something that I feel that I need to do for my kids, and I want to do,” Underwood said. “I’m so excited and I feel so lucky that I’m able to make this choice. But it will be very difficult.”
Underwood also stated that she will still work with the station on a fill-in capacity as needed.
A Boston 25 spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Underwood first joined Boston 25 News in 2008 and has worked in the Boston market since 2000, previously at CBS affiliate WBZ-TV. Prior to arriving in Boston, she also worked at stations in Washington, D.C., and Dayton, Ohio. A native of Palo Alto, Calif., and graduate of UCLA, Underwood started her broadcasting career at KIEM-TV in Eureka, Calif.
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An emotional Underwood thanked viewers and her coworkers, saying she was “so grateful” for her time at the station as employees behind the camera applauded.
“I love you all so much and I’ve loved my time here,” Underwood said. “I’m grateful for you, and I’m so excited — and my family is so excited — for this next chapter. […] I don’t take it for granted that I get to make this choice.”
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