Newsreader Tracy Vo breaks her silence after leaving the Today show

Former Today show newsreader Tracy Vo has broken her silence after announcing her departure from Channel Nine’s breakfast show.

The 37-year-old journalist shared a post to Instagram on Tuesday night from her home in Perth, where she is now living on a permanent basis.

She did not mention her exit from Today, but instead made a ‘public service announcement’ about the importance of self-isolating during the coronavirus pandemic.

Tracy posted a photo of herself wearing a T-shirt with the slogan ‘Stay Home’ in glittery text, while holding a ukulele and flashing the peace sign.

She wrote in the caption: ‘Stay home. A sparkly PSA brought to you by [Perth clothing designer] Empire Rose. Stay safe and well, friends.

‘And yep I’m getting a lot of ukulele jams in.’

Tracy added the hashtags #StayHome, #KeepYourDistance and #SlowTheSpread.’

Despite not acknowledging her departure from Today, which is filmed in Sydney, several followers commented about her decision to return to her home city of Perth.

‘Welcome back, Tracy. You have made the right decision,’ one fan wrote.

It comes after Channel Nine confirmed on Tuesday afternoon that Tracy would no longer be appearing on the Today show.

She has chosen to move back to Western Australia to be closer to her elderly parents during the COVID-19 crisis.

She will be replaced by sports reporter Alex Cullen for the foreseeable future. It hasn’t been confirmed if or when she will return to the show.

Tracy will instead be presenting Nine News Perth from Wednesday, as well as hosting the local weekend news. 

‘I felt it was the best thing to head back west to be close to my family at this uncertain time,’ Tracy told TV Blackbox on Monday.

‘I just want to make sure everyone stays safe, looks out for each other, and of course, always practise social distancing.’

Rumours of her departure from Today emerged after she was featured in a promo for Nine News Perth on Sunday night. 

Tracy had previously commuted from Perth to Sydney, but border shutdowns and mandatory isolation policies have prevented her from travelling between the states. 

Nine has left the door open for Tracy to return to the Today show, but it seems likely she will be staying with her family for some time.

Before her departure, Tracy had been a popular member of the Today show team after replacing Tom Steinfort as newsreader in January. 

Before joining the breakfast program, she’d worked at Nine for more than a decade, having landed her first job at the network in 2007.

One of the few Vietnamese faces on Australian TV, Tracy began her journalism career in radio, reporting for Western Australia’s 6PR Radio and Curtin FM 100.1. 

She moved from Perth to Sydney in 2004 after nabbing the role of breakfast editor and newsreader at local radio station 2SM.  

Over the next few years Tracy made the transition to television, working for the likes of Sky News and Channel 10.

She joined Nine News Sydney in 2007 and spent five years in the newsroom covering a wide variety of stories. 

In an interview with 9Honey, Tracy referred to Sylvia Jeffreys as one of her closest friends from her days at Nine in Sydney.

She said: ‘Building really solid friendships like Sylvia Jeffreys and Amelia Adams, they’re still two of my closest friends, despite being on the other side of the country.’

In 2012, Tracy left the Sydney bureau and returned to Perth to care for her parents. 

There, she joined the Nine News Perth team as a reporter and fill-in presenter.   

She is no stranger to covering hard-hitting news stories, having reported on events including the death of Nelson Mandela, Schapelle Corby’s release from prison and the mystery of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

In addition, she has also worked as a political reporter for the network in Canberra. 

Proving she really can do it all, she became a published author in 2014 with the release of Small Bamboo – the story of her family’s dramatic escape from war-torn Vietnam in 1978. 

She was once the victim of a drink spiking rampage, which saw offenders Chebli Djait and Adel Samadi prey on nine women – including Tracy – and three men during a six-day period in October 2004.

According to a report by the Sydney Morning Herald in 2006, Tracy testified against the two men in court following the incident, which took place at Pontoon Bar in Sydney’s Darling Harbour. 

Tracy claimed that the men had bought her a vodka drink, but said she could hardly recall anything after that.

‘I just wasn’t seeing straight, and from that point, parts of the evening blacked out,’ she said.

Recalling the incident, Tracy said she remembered feeling strange, as though she was ‘really, really, really drunk’.

The next day, she felt exhausted and was hardly able to move.  

It turned out the men had been spiking people’s drinks with epilepsy medication in an attempt to steal their belongings and, in some cases, sexually assault their victims.

Tracy fronted the the NSW District Court in 2006 to testify, with the men each being sentenced to 15 years in prison, according to an ABC report at the time.