Beloved TV presenter Jessica Rowe reveals real reason she quit breakfast show 'Studio 10'

Jessica Rowe has revealed the real reason she abruptly left Studio 10 last year after five years co-hosting the breakfast show.

The beloved TV presenter handed in her resignation in March 2018 because she wanted to spend more time with her family. But it seems behind the scenes 48-year-old Rowe was battling demons far greater than she was letting on.

"I could feel at the end of each show, not every day, but most days I would be close to tears," she shared in a new interview with The Australian Women's Weekly. "I'd feel that behind my eyes and was just about keeping it together. And I thought, 'Why am I doing this to myself?'"

Rowe -- who has always been open about her battles with depression and anxiety -- confessed that she was not in a good place. And although she appeared to be having fun on the outside, on the inside it was a different story.   

"I knew that I was heading down, I knew that my anxiety was there, that I was getting depressed and that if I didn't make a change I'd start to falter," said Rowe, who experienced post-natal depression following the births of her daughters Allegra, 12, and Giselle, 10.

In the interview Rowe maintain that her departure had nothing to do with the show, which at the time also saw her co-host Ita Butrrose resign from the news desk.

"It wasn't the job per se. It's the best job I've ever have in telly. I absolutely loved it! But I knew I needed to make a change," Rowe explained. "I was putting myself out there every day and I could never do things by halves."

At the time of her resignation, Rowe's husband, Nine News host Peter Overton, said that he wholeheartedly supported her decision.

"One hundred percent, family is the most important thing," the 52-year-old told 9Honey Celebrity.

Overton also praised his wife for her courage and grace during a difficult period.

"My admiration for Jessica knows no bounds," he later wrote on Twitter. "This morning when I asked 11-year-old Allegra how she felt that Mum was going to be home in the mornings... she said 'I am a billion times happy' ... and that says it all."