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CNN’s weekend anchor Christi Paul joins the Great Resignation, makes emotional exit after 20 years

The longtime weekend news anchor will join a news station in her native Ohio

CNN anchor Christi Paul will no longer be seen on the screen as she bid an emotional goodbye to the network after working for two decades. Paul, who has co-anchored CNN's ‘New Day Weekend’ on Saturday and Sunday mornings for nine years and hosted on CNN-owned network HLN, announced on air as she spoke to her co-host Boris Sanchez that she was doing her last show and was part of the ‘Great Resignation,’ an economic trend wherein people leave their steady employment for other opportunities.

Paul, who made the decision in January claiming her early schedule kept her away from her family, said, “At some point, my husband and I looked at each other and said, ‘We need to get back home. I love these people, I love this place, I am so grateful and I am so tired.” She added that she took the decision because she just could not be who she needed to be for her family. She said, "It’s important work, but at the end of the day, somebody’s going to sit in this seat and I’m going to leave and the show will go on, as it should. But nobody else is going to be my kids’ mom. And nobody else is going to be my husband’s wife or my parents’ children, and I need to be fully, fully present there.”

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The 53-year-old anchor also had an adieu message for her colleagues. She said, “I know that things are so divisive right now. The people in these buildings – in DC, in New York, here in Atlanta, all over the world – these are some of the smartest, kindest, most thoughtful, most talented people on the planet, and I am so grateful to learn from you and know you… This has been the ride of my life, and I wish all of you the best.” She signed off with her signature style, “Go make good memories,” she said. “I mean that.”

On Twitter, the former CNN anchor thanked her 'New Day Weekend' co-workers and audience for letting her "invade your morning space the last 9 yrs & for the very generous words you're sending!" She said, "I genuinely appreciate each one of you! xoxo."

Paul, who joined the network in the spring of 2003, will join another news station in her home state of Ohio. She promised to announce her new position later this week. Meanwhile, CNN senior communications director Bridget Leininger told USA Today that Paul's co-anchor Boris Sanchez will be joined by fellow CNNers until a permanent pick is chosen.