Dynamic Duos: Channel Seven’s Guinness World Record-holding hosts
This week in Dynamic Duos, 7News Perth's TV anchors Rick Ardon and Susannah Carr celebrate 40 years on the desk together and reflect on some of their biggest moments.
In Dynamic Duos, Mumbrella each week asks two colleagues with a professional and personal affiliation to share with readers the importance of workplace relationships in an increasingly hybridised world of work.
Rick Ardon:
Susannah and I first met in the early stages of our media careers at the Clear Speech Awards for TV news presenters. She was at the ABC and I was at Seven, and I had already been impressed by her outstanding news presenting skills.
Sue came to Seven shortly afterwards, and we have been presenting the news together live at 6pm for the past 40 years, with no end in sight. To me, Susannah has always been the best news presenter in Australia, with a crystal clear voice, warmth the audience relates to and authoritative presentation.
It’s been such a remarkable adventure with Sue, and much more than just presenting news live together. We’ve seen some remarkable news events unfolding while we’ve been live on air, including the 9/11 attack when the twin towers were imploding as we presented late at night.
Sue and I love being on location when big stories are breaking, whether they be bushfires, police emergencies or the Claremont serial killings verdict, which was huge in WA.
We’ve been lucky enough to be on location internationally for memorable stories including the Bali bombings, the death of Princess Diana, the Gulf conflict, the South African elections and the release of Schapelle Corby from jail.
As a senior journalist, I’m pedantic about making sure everything is accurate and up to date, so our viewers can be happy they’ve seen exactly what’s happened.
Our relationship is built on the comfortable knowledge that we are both fully prepared for our live news at 6.
We are meticulous in scrutinising the stories we’re about to read, and always looking for the best possible way to present the introductions to our valuable viewers, who’ve been loyal for many years.
We are both so grateful that people have watched us for so many years. We’ve just been to two shopping centres to meet people for our 40th anniversary, and everyone had stories to tell about their lives and when they first started watching.
I am humbled and truly grateful that I’ve been able to work alongside such a consummate professional in Sue, and for the wonderful people who’ve stuck by us all that time. God bless them all.
Susannah Carr:
Rick and I first met in 1981. I was a young TV newsreader at the ABC, having become the first woman to read for the ABC in Perth a few years earlier. He was an even younger newsreader/journalist at Channel Seven after starting his career at local newspaper The West Australian.
He had a reputation for being an up and coming star, with the good looks to help a TV career, and we introduced ourselves at the annual Clear Speech awards for TV Newsreaders…..I won that year.
Four years later Seven asked me to leave the ABC to join them. Seven wanted to expand their lineup to two readers and switch time slots to go head to head with Channel Nine. I made one of the best decisions of my life and accepted and from January 1985, our reading partnership was born.
We’ve read together ever since, breaking the record for a TV anchor duo and being acknowledged by the Guinness World Records as the longest serving news anchor duo….a record we continue to break each and every night.
This year marks 40 years together.
We’ve anchored together through some of the most historic stories like the 9/11 terror attacks, the fall of Communism and the deaths of Princess Diana and the Queen.
We find ourselves totally in sync with each other, working seamlessly…it’s a partnership forged and finessed over those many years. Neither of us could imagine working the same way with anyone else. To this day we still love it, thrive on the adrenalin of breaking news and never tire of learning about this amazing world of ours.
Rick on Susannah:
Most memorable moment with Susannah: Presenting the unfolding news shortly after the 9/11 attack, and being live on air as the Twin Towers came tumbling down. I’ll never forget seeing people jumping from those skyscrapers to escape the blaze.
Best word to describe her: Brilliant.
Most annoying habit or endearing behaviour she has: Nothing annoying, only endearing. She’s always prepared, so if all else fails, Sue ca talk accurately about the news she’s presenting.
Susannah on Rick:
Most memorable moment with Rick: Working together on the night of the 9/11 terror attacks. Covering the history making event live as it happened.
Best word to describe him: Perfectionist, fastidious, accurate.
Most annoying habit or endearing behaviour he has: Totally dedicated to his incredible family and stays grounded with activities and friends from outside the TV industry.
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Lauren McNamara was the associate editor at Mumbrella. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS. She left Mumbrella in August 2025.
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