'A team forged almost instantly': Alex Cullen takes a look back at an 'unprecedented' year with Today

I was beyond nervous. A new team, a new studio, a new format, a new beginning.

Would we like each other? Would we gel? Would one of us storm off the set? Would we laugh? Would we cry?

These were questions I'd been asking myself all summer in the lead up to what would soon become one of the most devastating years in modern history.

But, in those first days of January 2020, we didn't know that yet. I was busy with our twin daughters Audrey and Evie who were about to turn one.

New Year's Eve had come and gone and Karl, Ally, Brooke, Tim and I were enjoying the last days of those precious summer holidays.

That was until we got the call. Bushfires were ravaging the east coast of Australia.

Broken, panicked families were losing everything amongst those terrifying walls of flames. Suffocating smoke, eerie sparks and debris danced across our TV screens.

A mysterious respiratory disease originating in China was also quickly spreading to all corners of the globe.

2020 and everything it was to deliver was about to begin and, earlier than expected, so would we.

As the new kid on the Today Show desk, I'm pleased to say I had nothing but love and support for every one of those first few steps in those historic Willoughby studios.

Even a monumental stuff-up in my first bulletin was very quickly made light of by none other than Karl Stefanovic and from that instant, I knew I'd love the place and the people.

Then, very quickly, we were reacting to devastating news as it was unfolding on what felt like a daily basis.

This was live breakfast TV at its best and its busiest. Another bushfire would start, another property destroyed, another family's loss quickly became the norm.

Sure, we had the laughs, along with the quirks and the humour and the gentle ribbing of the "getting to know you" stage, but this was a team being forged almost instantly through devastating news events that just kept coming.

Then, in early February, right around the time of the Chinese lunar new year celebrations, I distinctly remember saying on the desk that this so-called coronavirus probably means people really shouldn't be travelling right now. I remember thinking that if that disease spreads during the busiest time of year for travel, we could be in serious trouble. As the weeks rolled by the news became steadily worse.

The disease was detected in Perth, then in Sydney aboard the infamous Ruby Princess. On March 1, Australia recorded its first death. The country began to shut down.

Sport was cancelled which meant we had to get very creative to fill our sports bulletins every half hour. Fast forward to today where more than 1.5 million people have died from coronavirus, and counting, because this invisible menace isn't finished with us just yet.

My favourite moment of 2020 on Today?

Easy. When our Ally Langdon decided to organise a very special surprise for my 40th birthday a few weeks ago.

Just when I thought everyone had forgotten and I'd escaped any ensuing embarrassment, suddenly, a mariachi band comes marching out belting out the Happy Birthday music we all know and love.

As if that wasn't enough, my wife and wonderful children walked out with a card and some balloons to surprise their dad on national television. I almost cried. We laughed and didn't we need it.

The worst moment?

Reporting on Hannah Clarke's death in Brisbane.

A strong, beautiful, hard-working, kind and generous young mum murdered by her husband along with her three amazing children on a quiet suburban street.

How this senseless, horrific and cowardly domestic violence can still happen on this scale in this country is quite simply beyond me.

That story affected all of us. Greatly.

Along with the grief and utter sadness in the eyes of Hannah's brother and parents. We marvelled at their strength and simmered with anger at Hannah's killer and his cowardice.

The history-making moments that stuck with me

We've watched truly incredible history-making moments unfold in 2020.

Indigenous teenager Olivia Fox singing the first dual language Australian national anthem at a major sporting event. History.

Harry and Meghan ditching the royal family. History.

One of the world's greatest athletes, Kobe Bryant, killed in a helicopter crash. History.

George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement. History.

Donald Trump losing the plot and the election. Oh, and getting COVID-19. History.

The football codes suspending their competitions and then extending them. History.

Australia in recession. History.

Grandmother Margaret Keenan receiving the first ever COVID-19 vaccine. History.

And the Today Show team starting off in our brand new North Sydney studios. Not as earth-shattering as the aforementioned but still - history.

Thank you for being a part of it and sharing the journey with us.

I think we can all agree, it has been a year like no other that has taught us to love, live and laugh as much as we possibly can. Hug those loved ones tight, enjoy the holidays and we cannot wait to see you in an even bigger, and we hope, brighter 2021.

From our families to yours, have a very merry Christmas.

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