Matt Cooper quits his TV show: ‘Need to reduce the working hours a bit’

Broadcaster says ‘holidays confirmed’ that he needs ‘more flexibility’ in the evenings

Matt Cooper: the broadcaster presents The Last Word radio programme on Today FM each weekday as well as The Tonight Show on Virgin Media One
Matt Cooper: the broadcaster presents The Last Word radio programme on Today FM each weekday as well as The Tonight Show on Virgin Media One

Matt Cooper has quit The Tonight Show, the late-night news and current-affairs television programme, on Virgin Media One, that he has copresented since 2017.

The journalist and broadcaster tweeted last night that he won’t be returning to the show when it comes back from its summer break. “Holidays have confirmed it for me. Need to reduce the working hours a bit, enjoy more flexibility in the evenings,” he tweeted last night.

Cooper also hosts the 2½-hour Last Word news magazine on Today FM. It finishes at 7pm each weekday; The Tonight Show begins at 10pm four nights a week, from Monday to Thursday.

The former editor of the Sunday Tribune, who also now writes for the Irish Daily Mail and the Business Post newspapers, added that he continues to work on other television projects.