Kelly Cates has opened up about her abrupt departure from her role as a presenter at Sky Sports News back in 2006.
Well-known for her presenting prowess, whether anchoring in the studio or on the pitch, Cates made an unexpected exit from the broadcaster where her career began.
During her decade away, she honed her talents on BBC Radio 5Live's 606 show and fronted the English Football League highlights on Channel 5.
A full circle moment arose ten years later when Cates returned to Sky Sports, taking up the mantel of presenting Saturday evening EFL matches.
Kelly said
"I left Sky Sports News in 2006, after the Germany World Cup. I'd been there for eight years and I had just turned 30, or I was just turning 31. I was engaged but not yet married. I knew I wanted to have children quite soon at that point,"
"It had just been, for a long time, kind of filtering away and running in the back of my head.
“I came to the end of my contract and was working under my new contract and within the space of about three days, made the decision.
“I was driving into work one day, I walked in and I said, 'I don't want to sign this new contract, I want to go!
“I had nothing to go to. I just walked away, but I was so sure that I had to go and make that change.
“I did it when I left university to go to Sky, which is different, because then you get something that's really exciting, shiny and new, dangled in front of you and you think, 'I'm going to take this jump.
"But that's the scariest one I did – where I just went, 'that's it'. I just made that decision."
Kelly added:
"It's when you wake up the next morning and you still feel good about it. That's when you know you made the right decision, when it feels like a weight off, rather than a sinking feeling."
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