Steve Hayslip leaves NewsChannel 5 morning show after 18 years as anchor

Steve Hayslip — main anchor on Nashville's longtime No. 1 morning TV news show — is leaving after 18 years at NewsChannel 5.

Station officials told staffers last week Hayslip will be joining his wife in a family-run skincare business. Hayslip's wife, Kathy, posted that news to her Facebook page Sunday (Nov. 26).

Hayslip's departure comes about two weeks after he posted — and then took down — two tweets he later said "seemed insensitive" joking around about the size of the knife used in stabbings involved people who were homeless.

"Now THAT's a knife!" Hayslip posted in a tweet captured by FTVLive.com. "NC5_DanKennedy has the latest on a triple stabbing in the Gulch."

Hayslip was replaced on the morning show by Channel 5 reporter/anchor Nick Beres shortly after those tweets were posted and taken down.

Neither Hayslip nor news director Sandy Boonstra responded immediately to requests for comments.

Longtime morning co-anchor Amy Watson and reporter Rebecca Schleicher anchored Monday's news.

Veteran NewsChannel 5 anchor Vicki Yates said she is sorry to see Hayslip go.

"Steve is a wonderful person and a great communicator and a really fun guy to be around," she said. "I know he’s going to be successful in his new business."

Longtime News 2 morning show anchor Neil Orne also had kind words for Hayslip.

"He was hard to focus on as 'the competition' because he was so nice," Orne said.

"I wish him well and quickly removed the voodoo pins from his likeness at my house when I learned the news."

Reach Brad Schmitt at brad@tennessean.com or 615-259-8384 or on Twitter @bradschmitt.