There’s not much Allison Langdon hasn’t covered in her tenure as a journalist – and, despite the precarious circumstances she often finds herself in, she’s not one to scare easy. From the frontline of war-torn countries to swimming with sharks in the waters off South Africa, the veteran reporter has braved conditions that only a handful of people ever experience. But, stepping onto the set of A Current Affair for the first time in 2023, the newly minted host had a sudden urge to hide.
Two decades of hard work and commitment had led Ally to this shining moment and, on the precipice of having it all, she was breathless.
“I remember arriving on set and sitting in the chair… [then] I went up to the dressing room and started hyperventilating,” Ally, 46, recalls to TV WEEK. “One of our stylists came in to find me and had to coach me out of it.
“I think it was realising the magnitude of who had been in that chair before me and what this role meant.”
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Pressure to deliver is inherent of any job but ACA came with high expectations for Ally, who wanted to stand as tall as her predecessor, Tracy Grimshaw, and, even more importantly, her late father-in-law Mike Willesee, who started the show in 1971.
“It would’ve been lovely for him to know that I took over the role so many years after him,” Ally explains.
“But in the lead-up to the show I had been talking to the executive producer and she asked me what’s important to me, moving forward, and I referenced domestic violence – we dedicated our whole first show to that.
“It was a risk, because you don’t want to change the show, but you want to put your own stamp on it. So all of that had me a little overwhelmed,” Ally admits.
“After we did that I wanted classic ACA; I wanted to chase someone dodgy down the street,” she laughs.
Ally’s risk paid big rewards and today she is standing tall as a first-time TV WEEK Gold Logie nominee.
“It’s incredibly exciting and it’s off the back of an amazing year, so I feel incredibly privileged,” she says. “You grow up wanting to be a journalist but I never expected to get as far as I have. To host the Olympic Games in Paris and helm ACA is such an honour.”
The coveted Gold Logie nomination also comes off the back of her first individual Logie win for Best News or Public Affairs Presenter – she won in 2024 and is up again in 2025.
“Honestly, I didn’t think we stood a chance,” Ally laughs. “But it’s a lovely recognition of the show. I’m lucky to be the face of it but it’s a huge team effort.”
While ACA has held steady since its inception, Ally admits it’s “not a glitzy” production like its globe-trotting 60 Minutes counterpart. But it holds true to who we are as Australians.
“Trace said it best: people who mock our show don’t know our show, and it’s true,” she says. “We have some great characters on our show and we lean into it; it can be entertaining.
“But we can also spend an entire episode discussing the ongoing issues in Israel. That’s the great thing about ACA, it can be whatever you want it to be.”
Despite an illustrious career that includes 60 Minutes, Today, Parental Guidance, which is currently on screens, and the news, Ally admits she can stumble like the rest of us. Recalling her first day as a producer on the 6pm National Nine News, she admits it could’ve been a short career.
“I accidentally changed the script before [reporter] Ian Ross went to air,” she recalls with a laugh. “I saved something in the wrong file and suddenly I heard Ian start to stumble his words and he never does that. I thought, ‘Oh s***!’ But he was so nice about it.”
Luckily, Ally got a second chance and soon found herself on the road for 60 Minutes, where she would become the second youngest reporter to join the program since Jana Wendt.
“At 31-years-old, I felt like a baby,” she says. “You walk into the building to see Liz Hayes, Tara Brown, Michael Usher… I look back at those early stories and I sound like I’m 12.”
Those stories, for better or worse, have taken Ally everywhere – from meeting gorillas in Congo’s Virunga National Park and spotting the elusive leopard seal in Antarctica – “nasty little buggers,” she laughs. She’s also navigated the political warfare of Syria where “too many unknowns” meant the assignment was risky. That’s the only job she’s ever declined to pursue, she says.
But these were decisions made before Ally and husband Michael had two kids, Max, now 8, and Scout, 6. Priorities shifted and Ally longed for home.
“I took Max on the road with me once and it was a bloody nightmare,” she says in a statement many parents can relate to.
“But you reach a point where you go, you know what, everything I love about this job I’m not enjoying anymore because I’m leaving someone at home.”
With her more predictable schedule, Max and Scout are now never too far from Mum. And on the days she can’t be there, Ally hopes she’s instilling a good work ethic and understanding of how much she loves what she does.
“I had to work one weekend and Scout got upset. Max said to her: ‘It’s okay, Mummy loves her work. Have you been to the office? Everyone is laughing there and they have a vending machine!’”
Whatever comes next, Ally is grateful to simply be on the road telling stories.
“This has all been a little overwhelming but I’ve met some of the greatest humans and I’ve seen the world,” she smiles.
“It’s one of the great privileges to be invited into someone’s life – you don’t ever just walk away from it afterwards.
“This job has been more rewarding than I ever thought possible.”
A Current Affair airs Monday to Friday on Channel Nine
