Breakfast Television’s Frank Ferragine bids viewers goodbye: 'It's been a wonderful ride'
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Breakfast Television’s Frank Ferragine — a.k.a. ‘Frankie Flowers’ — signed off Friday morning after announcing he was leaving the morning program earlier this month.
“When you’re summing up 20 years of friendships and getting to know the viewers that are at home and the ones that made me a part of their mornings … it’s been such an honour,” he said during his final broadcast. “It feels good to make such an impact.”
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Ferragine, who joined the morning show in February of 2005 as BT’s weather specialist and gardening expert, said it was time to step away so someone else could get a chance in front of the camera.
“It feels great to make an impact … (but) somebody else needs this chance to shine in this chair; to have this exposure and to also make people smile.”
A smiling Ferragine said his dad is “really excited” that he’ll now be able to focus his full attention on the family business, Bradford Greenhouses.
The TV personality added that he’ll be able to spend more time with his two boys.
“There’s (been) so many moments, so many memories, but so many more to be made in different ways,” Ferragine said. “For all of you, that’s now your jobs,” he said to his fellow co-hosts, Dina Pugliese, Tim Bolen and Devo Brown.
Asked if he’d miss being questioned about the weather, Ferragine said he didn’t think people would ever stop asking him about it.
“The weather has always been my life … it’s something I’m super passionate about. I’ve always said I’m wild about weather and passionate about plants … The outdoors is key,” he said. “I look forward to that; to other adventures.”
After he gave his final weather report, Ferragine said, “It’s been a wonderful ride; a beautiful ride.”
On social media, Ferragine’s co-hosts paid tribute to him with Bolen writing, “I have known him for a long time and got to work with him for a short time.. and it was the absolute best! Congrats on a legendary run on @breakfasttv @FrankFerragine.”
Pugliese called him her “tv fratello (brother) for life!” and shared a slideshow of images of their time working together over the years.
Ferragine thanked the team at BT and Rogers, as well as the morning program’s legions of fans, and promised to return for segments on gardening. “I’ll still be around,” he said.
Pugliese, who left the morning show in 2023, returned to BT in March alongside Bolen after the program parted ways with Meredith Shaw and Sid Seixeiro.
News of Ferragine’s departure was greeted with a mix of appreciation and sadness with many BT viewers calling his exit “the end of an era.”
“20 years ! I’ve been watching Frank since I was 11 years old. I’ll miss him. All the best,” one viewer wrote, with another adding, “Frankie you are definitely my favourite, so sorry you are leaving. Congratulations on your new endeavours.”
“Thank you for being a part of my mornings from childhood through adulthood. Wishing you all the best in this next chapter, Frankie!” a third devotee wrote.
Ferragine shocked BT fans earlier this month when he announced his departure.
“It’s been a wonderful journey,” he said at the time. “So the time now is for me to sleep in, but also grow in other ways and that’s what I want to do.”
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