Emily Maitlis breaks silence on Newsnight absence as fan asks ‘where the heck is she?’

Emily Maitlis grills Kevin Foster over emergency visas

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Emily Maitlis explained her absence from BBC’s Newsnight earlier today after a fan pondered why the TV presenter hadn’t been on telly screens recently. The 51-year-old was met with dozens of tweets from her regular viewers pondering the same question, which appeared to have been what urged the BBC journalist to issue a response. 

I’m actually spending the next few weeks working on a ten part American political doc

Emily Maitlis

Though Emily is expected to return to the show in “the next few weeks”, she revealed in view of her 443,000 followers that other work commitments with the broadcaster were ultimately to blame for her leave. 

“Where the heck is Emily,” the Twitter user @EllenPh wrote.

The Canadian-born media personality tweeted in response: “Thanks for lovely messages. 

“I’m actually spending the next few weeks working on a ten part American political doc for the bbc right now.

“But #Newsnight appears to be on fab form!”

It’s unclear whether her upcoming documentary shares any ties to her politically-driven BBC Sounds podcast, Americast. 

Following a two-week hiatus, Emily returned with a new episode, titled Unhappy Anniversary, on January 7 as she reflected on last year’s U.S. Capitol riot in Washington D.C.

The episode was met with positive reactions from fans who praised the mother-of-one, with one user claiming the intimate conversation had sent “chills down my spine”.

“Best podcast ever! I had chills down my spine listening to this one! @BBCSounds @BBCJonSopel @maitlis @awzurcher #Americast,” the Twitter user @caceey tweeted.

The sweet remark prompted Emily to respond a day later, tweeting: “Oh thank you!!

“I am sorry about the chills but glad it was worth it.”

It’s been quite the month for Emily, who also weighed in on Prince Andrew’s ongoing sexual assault case stemming from his alleged victim, Virginia Giuffre. 

The Duke infamously sat down for a candid Newsnight interview with Emily back in 2019 in a bid to clear his name from the aforementioned accusation. 

However, following the televised sit down, the 61-year-old has since been stripped of most of his honorary military titles and patronages by his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. 

The Queen’s decision in taking such drastic action came after a U.S. judge ruled that the civil lawsuit filed by Virginia against the Duke could proceed to trial. 

Speaking about her interview with Prince Andrew, Emily wrote in her BBC News column earlier this month that his account had formed “a critical part of this landmark legal case”.

“He believed things had been said about him that he could disprove.”

She recalled that while viewers of her Newsnight special were astonished by the Duke’s demeanour, the BBC journalist was far from shocked. 

“But bizarrely, I had been expecting them,” she declared.

The interview took place in Buckingham Palace, shortly after Emily was invited to have tea with Prince Andrew as the latter revealed what he had hoped to get out of their conversation.

“It was there the duke shook my hand, sat down, and explained he was going to tell us why he believed the photograph of him and Ms Giuffre – showing Prince Andrew with his arm around her – was likely a doctored fake.”

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