Maureen O’Boyle’s final WBTV newscast had a couple of surprise visitors
WBTV anchor and reporter Maureen O’Boyle appeared on her final newscast Friday and choked up as two longtime colleagues surprised her by showing up on the set.
“What!” O’Boyle blurted as veteran reporter Steve Crump and retired chief meteorologist Eric Thomas walked from behind a wall and onto the set, where each hugged her.
“He just got off the softball field,” Thomas said to laughter, referring to Crump wearing a ball cap.
“No, it’s the whole chemo thing, the hair thing,” Crump replied, drawing further chuckles. Crump has battled cancer for years.
Anchor/reporter Alex Giles filmed the moment and posted the footage on Twitter.
“Loved getting to be in the studio for this!” Giles said on Twitter. “@EricThomasWx, @SteveCrumpWBTV and @JamieBollWBTV surprised @MaureenOBoyle during her final @WBTV_News newscast! We’ll miss you, Mo!”
O’Boyle thanked Giles in a reply tweet and said she loved the film.
“You know I’m your biggest fan!” she told Giles. “Keep being you! I’ll miss your laughter!”
O’Boyle returned to her hometown of Charlotte in the summer of 2004 to work for WBTV.
She announced her retirement plans in May, telling The Charlotte Observer that many options lay ahead, including DIY projects, travel, trying voice-over work and possibly opening an antique store anywhere from Charlotte to the mountains.
“I don’t plan on going anywhere right away,” O’Boyle told viewers on Friday night.
“I am stepping away from news and just taking a break, and we’ll see what happens next,” she said.
Tweets for O’Boyle
On Twitter four hours before he surprised O’Boyle, Thomas called Friday “a sad day for Charlotte journalism.”
He urged his 10,500 Twitter followers to “make sure you make a point to watch her final newscast tonight at 7 p.m.”
“Good luck and God Speed Maureen O’Boyle as you embark on your next exciting chapter in life!!!” Thomas said on Twitter.
“I love you @EricThomasWx!!,” O’Boyle replied.
WBTV chief meteorologist Al Conklin said on Twitter before O’Boyle’s last broadcast: “Nobody in our newsroom has ever worked harder; but it’s her dedication to family, faith & the causes she supported that set Mo apart.”
“Mo made our station a better place & each of us better people,” Conklin said.
Replied O’Boyle: “I can’t start crying this early @AlConklin Such kind words. XO.
Said WBTV reporter/anchor Jamie Boll on Twitter: “Al says it perfectly. Family and community are everything to Mo. It was the lens she broadcast through. She cares deeply about our city and its people. She’ll be missed around here.”