Lester Holt has finally broken his silence on why he decided to step away from NBC Nightly News, revealing that his departure—announced back in February—was driven by a desire for more personal freedom and flexibility. After years of anchoring one of America’s most-watched evening news programmes, Holt admitted that he felt it was time to shift gears and prioritise other aspects of his life.

Lester Holt is leaving NBC Nightly News(Image: GC Images)
Lester Holt is saying goodbye to NBC Nightly News and has now opened up about the reason for his departure.

The 66-year-old is hoping to find more freedom in his career and ditch the anchor desk to return to in-depth reporting with Dateline. Holt has shared his excitement about a return to traditional reporting, “We’re still doing journalism, but these are hour and two-hour shows we’re doing. Some of the stories you’ll see me doing will be months in the making.”

The NBC star confessed an eagerness to exercise “some different news muscles” at Dateline, where he aims to expand beyond traditional boundaries.

Speaking about his decision to go into a more full-time role at Dateline, he continued, “I’ve done a lot of things that are outside of what many would think is a traditional Dateline, but I want to do more of those.”

Lester Holt has opened up(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Speaking to Variety, Lester further explained his reason for leaving NBC Nightly News as he acknowledged his perception of the job’s impermanence, “I never saw myself doing this job forever.” A decade after replacing Brian Williams as the face of NBC Nightly News, Holt candidly expressed readiness for change.

“I decided that I needed to come off the Nightly gig, but I still had gas in the tank,” he confessed. Holt originally broke the news of his departure in February, with a statement highlighting his enthusiasm to work more with Dateline.

The statement said, “I will be expanding my footprint on the broadcast and crafting Dateline hours on subjects I care deeply about. I am thrilled to be able to work more closely with my enormously talented friends at Dateline as the broadcast continues to grow and attract new viewers.”

Following Holt’s exit, journalist Tom Llamas will be taking over at NBC Nightly News. Speaking about taking over for Holt, Llmas said in a statement, “Anchoring ‘NBC Nightly News’ is a profound honor and one that carries tremendous responsibility. I look forward to working with the world class journalists at ‘Nightly News’ and ‘Top Story’ to bring viewers the most important stories every night.”

He continued, “Lester Holt is a great man and one of the most trusted broadcasters of our time. Just like Lester, I promise to be devoted to our viewers and dedicated to the truth.”