I did it my way says Eamonn Holmes as he steps down from Sky breakfast show Sunrise to pursue "other dreams"

Holmes joined Sky in 2005 after 12 years as a host on ITV's GMTV but now says "I have other dreams, and to achieve them I realise that unfortunately I need to step away from the daily studio commitment for a while".

Holmes, 56, will front his last edition of Sunrise on Thursday 13th October and intends to use his freed up time to work on producing and presenting a number of unspecified documentary projects he has long been eyeing, saying it is a case of "now or never".

In a statement on his official Facebook page, he wrote: "Anchoring my own breakfast show for 11 years has been for me the stuff of boyhood dreams. It was the job I hoped to do as a young Belfast lad – and because of Sky News I got there!

"Forty five years plus on I have other dreams, and to achieve them I realise that unfortunately I need to step away from the daily studio commitment for a while. There is an addiction to a live breaking news studio environment. However, after more than 3,000 hours of programming it is a habit I have to suppress.

"Increasingly in life I have found myself in the fortunate position of having so much to do but little time to do it. This seems an opportune moment to change that.

"Going forward, I will now produce and present a number of documentary projects which I have been stalling for some time, as well as continuing my work with ITV and Channel 5. There is so much going on and I realised it was now or never..."

Holmes also took time to thanks colleagues and viewers for their support, writing "I cannot stress how hard it is saying goodbye to such a programme and the friends and colleagues who I have met over the years because of it – but nothing stays the same – nor should it...

"To those who have worked or woken up with me on Sky News over the years – thank you. I hope you appreciated that I tried to do it differently."