For 35 years, Christine Bentley has been a staple in living rooms across Toronto.

“It’s been a pretty good run,” Bentley, now 60, told the Star the day after announcing that she’s leaving her job as a CTV News anchor.

Bentley will step down after her final 6 p.m. broadcast on Friday.

She says she’ll take some time to decompress before pursuing other opportunities that she’s passionate about.

Dozens of comments and well wishes have poured in online and Bentley said it was “very surreal” to see messages and that she’ll miss the connection with viewers.

Bentley started her career in 1977 as a general assignment reporter for what was then called CFTO.

She earned her chops when she was assigned to cover municipal politics at Toronto’s city hall before covering Queen’s Park.

Bentley’s success earned her a seat behind the anchor desk, first as a weekend host and then as co-host of CTV’s Nightbeat News. After more than a decade on the 11:30 p.m. show, she moved to CTV’s News at Six with longtime co-host Ken Shaw, who she says is like her brother.

She also covered the News at Noon.

“Many Torontonians would be hard pressed to remember a time without Christine Bentley delivering their news,” said Paul Rogers, CTV News’s senior vice-president. “She will be missed.”

Despite the late hours, deadlines and high-pressure environment, Bentley loved her job and said it never felt like work.

“I’ve never along the way thought of it as this career I was building or this legacy I was building,” she said. “I’m still that 23- or 24-year-old with a mic in my hand, freezing my buns off with the cameraman, saying you better do this tape at least once.”

Bentley received the Career Achievement Award from Women in Film and Television and the Toastmasters International Communication and Leadership Award for outstanding service.

She was also named Woman of the Year by Consumer Choice Award Canada and received the Paul Harris fellowship award for community service from the Rotary Club of Canada.

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Somewhere between her lengthy shifts and raising a daughter and twin sons, Bentley volunteered extensively in the community, including the Centenary Health Centre board, CTV’s Toy Mountain, the Children’s Wish Foundation and Habitat for Humanity. She also supported the Baycrest Centre, Multiple Sclerosis Society and the McEwen Centre for stem cell research.

CTV will announce Bentley’s replacement Monday.