INSIDE Edition anchor Deborah Norville held back tears as she wrapped up her final episode on the program.
The journalist, 66, starred in her final show on May 21 – more than a month after she announced she would be leaving the program.
In her send-off, Norville thanked viewers for inviting her into their homes.
She also revealed she was swimming in gratitude and her voice appeared to crack.
“Since announcing my departure last month, I have been floored by the response of my peers and by you, our viewers,” she said.
In her farewell address, she reflected on being told that she didn’t belong in the television industry more than four decades ago.
“I have spent the last 47 years trying to prove her wrong,” Norville said.
“So my thought is this: believe in yourself when it seems no one else does.”
Before her last appearance, Norville reflected on her Inside Edition career.
“I am not crying because it’s ending… but rejoicing because it happened,” she wrote on Instagram.
She shared a reel of her career at Inside Edition – from her first day back in 1995.
Norville also revealed she was looking forward, sharing a snap that showed sun rays protruding into a building.
“How can one not be excited about the future with sun rays like this?” she wrote.
Norville, a mom to three adult kids, worked for NBC News and CBS before joining Inside Edition.
She reflected on why she joined the show.
“It was the right decision for me, because of who I was,” she told People.
I have spent the last 47 years trying to prove her wrong.
Deborah Norville
Norville recalled the moment she broadcast from the hospital bed after giving birth to her third child, Mikaela.
“My daughter was on ‘Inside Edition’ the day she was born,” she told the Associated Press.
“Nine hours post-delivery, the crew was in my hospital room filming ‘Inside Edition’ because they couldn’t locate anyone else to host the show, which was absurd.”
She also revealed that Inside Edition chiefs tried to keep on her the show.
“But there are just things I want to do and places I want to do them that staying in the New York studio don’t permit,” she said.
“They were lovely.”
Norville revealed she will take a vacation in Europe following her Inside Edition departure.
And, she will host the game show, The Perfect Line, that will broadcast in the fall.
Inside Edition bosses paid a glowing tribute to the anchor after she announced her departure.
“She has left a significant mark on the show, and I eagerly anticipate watching her expand on her remarkable broadcasting legacy in her next chapter,” stated Charles Lachman, the executive producer of Inside Edition.
Journalists have also paid their own tribute to Norville.
Norah O’Donnell described Norville’s 30 year career as an “incredible milestone” and labeled the anchor a “trailblazer” in journalism.
Good Morning America stalwart George Stephanopoulos said Norville has left an incredible legacy.
“And, here’s to everything that you’ve accomplished and everything that’s still ahead for you,” Michael Strahan chimed in.
