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Leila McKinnon (born 28 September 1972) is the presenter of Weekend Today alongside Cameron Williams. She is also a reporter for Nine News and A Current Affair.

She was born in Iran to an English mother and a New Zealand father, while her father was working as Service Manager to the late Shah of Iran's fleet of vehicles. She was refused entry into an American nuclear power plant for security reasons.^{[citation needed]}

She began her career reporting part-time for The Sunday Telegraph in Brisbane, while finishing a journalism degree at Queensland University of Technology. In 1993 she accepted a cadetship at WIN Television in Rockhampton, before moving to WIN's Cairns bureau. In 1995, McKinnon began work with the Nine Network, reporting and presenting for Nine's Gold Coast News.

After three years she became a reporter for A Current Affair in Brisbane. A brief stint on a short-lived consumer affairs program followed, before McKinnon moved to Sydney and returned to the news department, in late 2001.

In February 2005, McKinnon was appointed newsreader for Today and in August returned to Nine News presenting the morning bulletin. In March 2006, McKinnon relocated to Los Angeles with her husband, Australian businessman David Gyngell. Gyngell was formerly the chief executive of the Nine Network. It has been widely reported that he was also the godson of the late media tycoon Kerry Packer, though this is now proved incorrect.^{[citation needed]} In the U.S., McKinnon traveled all over the country recording stories for What's Good For You.

In 2007, McKinnon returned to Australia, as her husband David Gyngell was re-appointed as the CEO of the Nine Network. Since then she has presented the summer edition of A Current Affair. In 2008, she also regularly filled-in on the Nine News Morning and Afternoon Editions.

In January 2009, it was announced that McKinnon will co-host Weekend Today alongside Cameron Williams, with Amber Higlett and Michael Slater presenting the news and sport. The new program began in early February, and was introduced to counteract Seven's Weekend Sunrise. The program later extended to Saturday mornings as well. She will host the Sydney New Year's Eve Fireworks alongside Cameron Williams.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• What's Good For You?
• Sydney Morning Herald report on wedding to David Gyngell, December 2004

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