BBC Breakfast viewers were left confused when Victoria Fritz was introduced by a different name - but the presenter has explained why in a blog post. Watch her reveal her new name here:
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Victoria is now using the surname Valentine, and the unexplained change didn't go unnoticed by viewers.
"Anyone surprised by Victoria Fritz name change? What's that about?" one person tweeted.
Another asked: "Morning Victoria, how come the name has changed? Was confused when you just introduced yourself on the red couch."
Well, she's explained all in a blog post published today (Wednesday 26 October), entitled 'What's in a name?'.
In the post, she explained that she has adopted her mother's maiden name following the breakdown of her marriage.
She tied the knot with Dan Fritz back in 2011.
"The reasons for the breakdown of my marriage are private," she wrote.
"And, as I've discovered, via the inordinate number of conversations, apps, books, social media feeds, podcasts, seminars, webinars and every other resource I've exhausted in an entirely clichéd Millennial bid to grapple with my world dissolving, those reasons no longer define me.
"Call me old fashioned, but airing dirty laundry is undignified at the best of times. Plus, I have two wonderful young children to consider. Protecting their wellbeing and right to a private life will always be my priorities.
"Yet, however private I wish to keep my private life, there is an aspect of it that will always remain as much in public hands as it is in my own. And that is my name.
"Here's the rub. It no longer fits. It doesn't fit the person that has emerged nor does it truthfully describe the future ahead of me. In the re-casting and the re-crafting, I've discovered my name matters. And so I am changing it."
As for why she hasn't reverted back to her maiden name, Victoria said that felt too 'depressing' and 'anti-feminist'.
She continued: "I knew I couldn't go back. I couldn't go back to my maiden name. I couldn't stuff all the creased and dog-eared pages of my adult life back into the pamphlet of potential I was at 10 running against the boys at sports day.
"It would be like going back to live in your childhood bedroom, which, in my case, would be to a biro doodled, pine single bed, a purple lava lamp and walls covered in pictures of horses decoupaged around a giant poster of Keanu Reeves in Speed 2.
"Yes, I know this dates me and is also terrifying. Mainly for Keanu.
"No. Going back felt emotionally regressive, stunting, depressing and quite frankly, anti-feminist."
She went on to explain that she'd chosen to take her Dubliner mum's maiden name as a tribute to her Irish heritage - and because it sounds pretty cool too.
"I'm also taking it because it sounds epic," she concluded. "And 'epic' sounds pretty damn good as loose plans for the future go."
Featured Image Credit: BBC
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