BBC newsreader Darren Jordon is quitting the Corporation to join Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera International.
Darren, 45, joined the BBC for eight years and has been a regular on the Six O’clock and Ten O’clock bulletins. He will leave at the end of this month.
He said: "I’ve had a wonderful time at the BBC. I’ve learnt an awful lot and worked with some exceptionally talented individuals. The move comes at the right time for me and I look forward to fresh challenges. "
Our marriage is in crisis because I won't go with Darren to live in a Muslim country
The wife of BBC News star Darren Jordon has revealed how his new job with Arab TV channel Al Jazeera has caused a crisis in their marriage - because she doesn't want to live in a Muslim country.
Mandy has refused to accompany Darren to Qatar, where he will be an anchorman for new 24-hour English-language channel Al Jazeera International, instead choosing to stay in London with their two children.
But the newsreader admitted their 11-year marriage had already been under stress, saying: "We have had a problem with our relationship for the past few months."
Mandy said: "The break-up has come because of Darren's work pressures and the change in circumstances.
"As a Christian I would not want to live in a Muslim country. Jamaica, where Darren comes from, is one thing, but not an Arab country. It's too dangerous for the family."
Darren, who was poached from his BBC job presenting the One O'Clock News and weekend bulletins, said he hoped to come to an amicable arrangement with his wife for the sake of their children - Holly-May, eight, and Benjamin, five.
He said: "We will be living separately for the next two months and then, for the sake of our children, we will reappraise what we have in the New Year. I will be coming back home regularly to visit Mandy and the children.
"We're trying to maintain a civil and amicable relationship."
Sitting beside each other in their Victorian terrace home in West London, Darren, 45, spoke confidently while his wife, 36, appeared misty-eyed and downcast.
She said: "We have been trying to work things out. I realise Al Jazeera is an opportunity for Darren and a good career move.
"He has always led an interesting life. When we got married, he said life would never be boring - and it hasn't been.
"It will be hard to be apart. The children are very close to their father and will miss him.
"At the moment, we're living under the same roof and trying to keep things as normal as possible for the children."
Rumours that the Jordons' marriage was in trouble began circulating a couple of months ago when Darren attended a television industry event without Mandy.
Darren, who served in the Jamaican army for eight years before joining the BBC as a sports presenter in 1998, added: "I needed a new challenge and this came up.
"When we work out the logistics of moving to Qatar, we will make a decision on our marriage.
"The only people who can make that decision are me and my wife. We have not seen lawyers or filed for a divorce and there is no one else involved."
But he conceded that the couple would spend Christmas apart. Mandy will visit her family in South Africa with the children, but Darren does not intend to go.
Al Jazeera's new 24-hour channel is causing waves in the broadcasting world - Sir David Frost, former BBC correspondent Rageh Omaar and ITN's Shiulie Ghosh have all signed up.
The channel's existing Arabic service has sparked outrage for showing Osama Bin Laden's videos and shots of executions from Iraq.
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