Ellen Fanning has been appointed fill in presenter of RN Breakfast, for Fran Kelly, who will be hosting Insiders on ABC TV from Sunday April 27. Ellen joins RN’s flagship morning program from Tuesday April 22. Following Ellen Fanning, RN Breakfast regular reporter James Carleton will take over as presenter from Monday 9 June.

“I have had a long history with the ABC,” said Ellen. “It’s great to be back, especially to be fronting such a significant morning program. I have enormous respect for Fran Kelly and RN, and am excited to be joining the show.”

At the age of 24, Ellen became the first woman to host PM, one of ABC Radio’s national current affairs programs. She has served as the ABC’s Washington correspondent, a reporter on 60 Minutes and presenter of the Sunday program. More recently, she was the presenter of SBS TV’s long form interview series The Observer Effect.

RN’s Acting Manager Deborah Leavitt said: “It was hard to find the right person to present RN Breakfast, but with Ellen in the chair, expect the same hard-hitting journalism from RN’s breakfast program. Ellen’s wealth of experience and her solid reputation as a current affairs journalist will be right at home at RN.”