Former Sky News presenter Jacinta Tynan reveals the devastating effect of COVID-19 on her family

‘I was laid off the next week’: Former Sky News presenter Jacinta Tynan reveals the devastating effect COVID-19 has had on her family as she recounts being forced to take her sons to work before losing her job

Jacinta Tynan has revealed that she was recently retrenched due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The former Sky News presenter and single mum was struggling to care for her sons, Otis, 8 and Jasper, 10, as well as working while they were home from school, before she was let go. 

The 50-year-old told Stellar on Saturday: ‘On one occasion, I had no option but to take my boys to work. 

New world: In an interview with Stellar magazine published on Saturday, Jacinta Tynan (pictured) revealed that she was recently retrenched due to the COVID-19 pandemic

‘They sat in the foyer for five hours while I presented the news and prepared interviews between running out to check on them. 

‘It was incredibly stressful and wasn’t fair on my kids. So when I was laid off the next week, it felt like the timing was right. Something had to give.’

She added that while it’s been a shock to have lost her job, the journalist sees the upside in the time she can spend with her boys. 

Job: The former Sky News presenter and single mum was struggling to care for her sons, Otis, 8 and Jasper, 10, as well as working while they were home from school, before she was let go

Job: The former Sky News presenter and single mum was struggling to care for her sons, Otis, 8 and Jasper, 10, as well as working while they were home from school, before she was let go

The 50-year-old said: 'On one occasion, I had no option but to take my boys to work. They sat in the foyer for five hours while I presented the news. It was incredibly stressful and wasn't fair on my kids. So when I was laid off the next week, it felt like the timing was right'

The 50-year-old said: ‘On one occasion, I had no option but to take my boys to work. They sat in the foyer for five hours while I presented the news. It was incredibly stressful and wasn’t fair on my kids. So when I was laid off the next week, it felt like the timing was right’

‘For the first time since they were babies, I’ve got the opportunity to be really present with them. Life has slowed. 

‘We’ve been going on lots of bushwalks, playing Cluedo, cooking together. These are days we will never get back,’ she said. 

The Sydney mother-of-two has previously  revealed she has been co-sleeping with her children ‘on and off since they were born’.   

She talked about the decision in a column for news.com.au, explaining there was no compelling case against it.

New lease: She added that while it's been a shock to have lost her job, the journalist sees the upside. 'For the first time since they were babies, I've got the opportunity to be really present with them. Life has slowed' she said

New lease: She added that while it’s been a shock to have lost her job, the journalist sees the upside. ‘For the first time since they were babies, I’ve got the opportunity to be really present with them. Life has slowed’ she said 

‘As new mums, we get the memo that we must do what it takes to get that newborn into their own room pronto, even better the holy grail of ‘sleeping through the night’ while they’re at it, without ever questioning why,’ she wrote.  

A part-time co-sleeper, Jacinta admitted the setup is not for everyone, but says for her, it’s a beautiful feeling.

‘I love nothing more than lying next to my children as they’re falling asleep, absorbing the subtle tempo change of breath as their limbs go limp, the soles of their feet joined together like a newborn,’ she wrote.

”I’m here’, I whisper to them in the night, assurance hopefully setting them up for life,’ she wrote. 

Read more: In this week's Stellar

Read more: In this week’s Stellar