New Zealand sports reporter Tiffany Salmond has claimed she has been ‘sidelined’ by broadcasting bosses and did not step aside from NRL media. 

On Instagram, the Kiwi presenter spoke to her followers, urging for a shift in the television industry’s mindset. She expressed that TV executives bypassed her because they considered her ‘too bold’ and ‘disruptive’ to be featured on screen.

Salmond is a widely admired television presenter among sports enthusiasts in Australia and New Zealand. Her past experience includes working with Kiwi outlets RNZ and Sky.

More recently she has worked as a touchline correspondent for Fox Sports, mostly covering New Zealand Warriors matches.

But after having not appeared on Fox’s NRL coverage this year, many fans were left asking where Salmond had gone. 

In a video message to her 40,000 Instagram followers, Salmond shared the real story behind her absence, noting in the caption: ‘I didn’t leave rugby league media, I was sidelined.’

New Zealand sports reporter Tiffany Salmond has opened up on why she has not been seen on Fox Sports’ NRL coverage this season

Salmond, who hails from New Zealand, has worked for multiple news organisations, including RNZ and Sky. She had also worked for Fox Sports’ NRL coverage but had not appeared on the broadcaster this season 

‘I think it’s time we talk about the elephant in the room. Where I am. What’s happening with my career. Or let’s be honest, what’s not happening,’ she said, during the video clip.

‘It’s been a wild few months. The love, the DMs, the comments. The way in which how so many of you have been vocal about viscerally missing me.

‘Then you juxtapose that next to the fact that I’m still off air. The silence, not only is it disorientating – it just doesn’t make any logical sense.

‘When I really sat with that, I realised that this isn’t just about me. This is a broken system and a prime example of how the industry handles women who don’t fit the usual mould.’

In recent months, Salmond appears to have moved away from Auckland and is now living in Sydney, having published several posts in recent weeks of herself in the city, while also updating her Instagram bio to read ‘Kiwi in Sydney’.

Back in 2024 she had found herself in the centre of a high-profile media couple’s shock split. 

Fox Sports’ Jake Duke was in a relationship with Seven News reporter Grace Fitzgibbon. But the Channel 7 star surprisingly dumped Duke, after he had reportedly received multiple unexpected calls from Salmond in the ‘wee hours’ of the morning, one Saturday last February.

Salmond later told friends that she was unaware that Duke had a girlfriend when she rang him.

In May, Salmond hit out at online criminals who had targeted her in a deepfake photo attack.

She had published a picture of herself wearing a bikini but criminals had created a deepfake AI video of the picture and shared it online.

Salmond explained she feels the reason why she was snubbed by footy bosses was because she was ‘too bold’ and ‘disruptive’ for TV bosses 

Salmond explained that she had felt confused for some time over why she was unable to get broadcasting opportunities

Earlier this year, Salmond found herself at the centre of a deepfake AI criminal scam, after sharing pictures of herself on social media

Salmond explained that she had felt confused for some time over why she was unable to get broadcasting opportunities over the past year, adding she spent a long time mulling over the issue.

‘I know a lot of you have been confused as to why I have not been on your screens – you’ve been asking me for months and months now,’ Salmond continued.

‘And for a long time, I was confused about that too. But when I really sat with it it finally made sense to me.

‘I’m not an easy hire. I’m not a safe hire. Because when someone only has a few minutes of airtime across a handful of games and still builds this kind of demand and this kind of fan movement – it’s not normal. It’s not safe. That’s a disruption.’

The Kiwi sports presenter added that while she thinks she might not fit the typical stereotype of what broadcast bosses wanted in a presenter, she pointed to the love and support she has received from many fans, as an example of why viewers want someone ‘authentic’ like herself.

‘It’s been nearly a year since I was last on air. And I keep thinking surely the noise will die down and that you will all forget and will all move on. That’s how I knew with certainty that something was deeply, deeply wrong here. I know I don’t fit the traditional demand of what a TV presenter is supposed to be here but I think that’s the whole point?

‘Isn’t that why so many of you have been demanding my return? Because you could see something real in me, you could feel the authenticity through the screen.

‘But it is human nature to categorise. To want to put people in neat little boxes. That’s the thing with me, you can’t put me in a box. Maybe your instinct is to label me. Too pretty to be sharp. Too confident to be kind. Too bold to be manageable.

The Kiwi sports presenter added that while she thinks she did not fit the typical stereotype of what broadcast bosses wanted in a presenter

However, she pointed to the love and support she has received from many fans, as an example of why viewers want someone more authentic like herself

‘I’m not any of those cliche’s, I’m all of it. And that’s confronting to a system that thrives on predictability and control.

‘So instead of evolving and instead of making space for someone like me they would rather remove the destruction altogether.

‘Because if someone like me can show up fully as herself and thrive then the whole system has to shift.

‘I have proved that you can break the mould. That you can show up differently and be rewarded for it. While that’s exciting for a visionary – to the gatekeepers, it’s terrifying.’

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Salmond and Foxtel for comment.