Ali Keenan Retirement

[Sazza]

Ali Keenan is retiring at the end of May.

 

[ERICS MUM]

I just saw her announcement on Instagram. Retiring is such a big step, she seems very happy.

 

[Bea Frugal]

I shall miss her. Yes, she rattles on at breakneck speed but I think she’s an asset to qvc. She wears their awful clothes with style and seems decent. She doesn’t brag about having every product under the sun. She doubtless wants to relax and enjoy her family and I wish her good health in her retirement.

 

[missbabs]

I shall miss her. Yes, she rattles on at breakneck speed but I think she’s an asset to qvc. She wears their awful clothes with style and seems decent. She doesn’t brag about having every product under the sun. She doubtless wants to relax and enjoy her family and I wish her good health in her retirement.

I'll miss her too! Time to step back though and be with her family

 

[Bunnytown]

I liked watching her, she was really good at the diamonique shows.

 

[maymorganlondon]

Ali deserves the time to do what she wants out of the public eye. I know the light of exposure on Q is a mere tealight compared to the floodlight scrutiny on channels such as ITV. I hope nothing health-wise has prompted her decision, and that she can fully enjoy her freedom for a long, long time.
Her gallant approach to the trials and tribulations of cancer treatment really chimed with me. Her generosity of spirit on her Q blog for others going through the same or worse was lovely to see. She really seemed to foster a community spirit, focusing on others. Contrasted quite sharply with some colleagues who seemed to want a personal cult rather than a community. I don't know if Ali was able to keep it up with how buried the community stuff became.
On screen Ali always turns up looking presentable and polished, showing a lot more courtesy for the viewer than some colleagues in their Max Wall get-ups of leggings and tunics.
Yes, she has become a more and more frenetic gabbler, but at least tends to have a decent vocabulary and fewer of the stock catch-phrases many colleagues fall back on.
I used to enjoy when she did shows alone, usually for jewellery. And when she was on the Breast cancer care fundraiser shows you could see how much it meant to her.
All that is in the past, so another professional presenter exits the stage... who will be next?

 

[Dame Fondacox]

I don't follow her on Instagram but I checked out her retirement post and it was quite lovely. There was also a recent pic of her having a birthday lunch with Claire Sutton and Debbie Jones. She's got three children, five step-children (presumably from her second and third marriages) and four gandchildren and it seemed that she genuinely want to spend more time with them. Retirement is a big shift and she can keep her hand-in by doing voice overs and perhaps write another book. All of which is far less demanding and time-consuming than having to launch a TSV, and then spend hours on duty enthusiastically flogging it. I wish her well for a long and healthy retirement and happy and fulfilling next phase of her life.

 

[Susie Wusie]

Ali is retiring at the end of Mayto spend more time with family etc

 

[Deleted member 21838]

Time to forget presenting style good or bad. Retirement is a massive issue for so many. It’s not just about stopping work and now having loads of spare time. It’s a key point in life for everybody lucky enough to reach it. A strong reminder of your own mortality also. My partner (a fairly high profile solicitor locally within the profession) is facing the same thing after 40 plus years in the role. It is proving a major emotional wrench for her to deal with, and she is left with a sense of her whole reason for being taken away from her. Soon, I will probably have to stop dog walking, too. I have loved the job for 13 years, but physically at 60, it is starting to challenge me. Again, the thought of this major part of my life no longer being there is a very difficult prospect to face. What I am saying is, retirement has a lot more significance emotionally than might be first thought until you come to face it. I strongly recommend anybody interested in human emotions to watch Alan Bennett’s wonderful 1975 BBC play, Sunset Across the Bay. A magnificently incisive dramatic portrayal of how the stark and at times adverse realities of retirement can affect not only the person themselves, but also their spouse.

Good luck to her genuinely. She has had a long and at times fairly high profile career in television, and sounds at least, a decent and caring family woman. I hope she is given not only the time but also the health to relish her retirement.

 

[Jazzydrury]

I wish Ali all the best. Hope they give her a lovely send off on air, Flowers and a look back I guess,

 

[Silver Fox]

It took me about 5 seconds to adjust to retirement! Not that I didn’t like my job but after 42 years full time with its many ‘Ups’ but invariably awful ‘downs’ I felt I had done my bit.The relief of not ‘having to do’ is huge, the freedom.The one piece of advice I would give to a youngster get yourself set up financially.
Good luck and many happy days to Alison Keenan!

 

[May]

Ahh yes good for her .. life is too short to stay there

 

[Silver Fox]

Agree with D of C there are some people whose whole being is linked to their working persona and I have seen those whose ‘who and what they are’ is consumed by their position in working life. I was in a professional job one I had qualified for and worked hard to achieve and hopefully did to the best of my ability but then I walked out of the door, the pensioner!

 

[Bea Frugal]

Duke, your posts are often brutal but just lately there’s been a glimpse of a softer side! I it.

 

[Patsy]

It took me about 5 seconds to adjust to retirement! Not that I didn’t like my job but after 42 years full time with its many ‘Ups’ but invariably awful ‘downs’ I felt I had done my bit.The relief of not ‘having to do’ is huge, the freedom.The one piece of advice I would give to a youngster get yourself set up financially.
Good luck and many happy days to Alison Keenan!

I cut down slowly in the 6 months until I retired.
Now I can't believe I got up early enough to go to work.
I did go in a couple of times to cover for holidays but I said I would only work 10 til 2 .

 

[Toril]

I eventually retired after 44 years of teaching, although the school where I was teaching didn’t want me to go. However, after a high pressured job as I was the special educational needs department manager as well as a teacher, I‘d decided it was time to enjoy some “me“ time. I agreed to be one of the school’s governors though.

Now I don’t know how I found the time to work and really enjoy the opportunity to do what I want with my life nowadays as my time is no longer taken up with copious amounts of paperwork, meetings and school bells.

However, as I’d worked in the local primary school for so many years, every time I go out I bump into an ex-pupil or a parent so I guess I’ll never really leave the job behind.

 

[stratobuddy]

I cut down slowly in the 6 months until I retired.
Now I can't believe I got up early enough to go to work.
I did go in a couple of times to cover for holidays but I said I would only work 10 til 2 .

I used to start work in my first job at 0812 (yes, an odd time, but necessary to fit in 44 hours of work and 1/2 hour unpaid lunch times on top of that).

I had to get up about 6am to get there using 2 buses (including a trolley bus) as it was quite a distance and also involved a long walk into the countryside from the nearest bus stop.

That time has always stuck in my mind, and nowadays I always aim to be up by 0812 at the latest as a target to get out of bed, even if I fancy a lie-in.

 

[ERICS MUM]

I retired from a “full on” job that included a tough commute, long hours in the office and frequent overseas travel. Due to the circumstances of my retirement I did not have the opportunity to gradually cut back. It took me ages to get used to not being part of that life any longer.

Even now, several years on, I still ‘visualise’ what my team will be doing at certain times of the day. Ridiculous because some have since retired, one has died , they’ve moved offices twice and some are still working from home !

Every morning when stirring from my bed at 8am I think about the days of getting the 6.25am train to London. Getting ready for bed at night I often realise I would have been on the train coming home from work at that time.

 

[Koala]

I retired from a “full on” job that included a tough commute, long hours in the office and frequent overseas travel. Due to the circumstances of my retirement I did not have the opportunity to gradually cut back. It took me ages to get used to not being part of that life any longer.

Even now, several years on, I still ‘visualise’ what my team will be doing at certain times of the day. Ridiculous because some have since retired, one has died , they’ve moved offices twice and some are still working from home !

Every morning when stirring from my bed at 8am I think about the days of getting the 6.25am train to London. Getting ready for bed at night I often realise I would have been on the train coming home from work at that time.

6.25 .
I remember mornings like that but on a bus across Manchester instead.

 

[candycane]

I'd love to retire but I've compromised by working 2 days a week. I'm not really well enough to work full time anymore but not financially able to stop work. We're not wealthy but we get by and we do get days to do what we want or go on days out.

I wish Ali Keenan a very long, happy and healthy retirement.

CC