Thieves attempt to steal Today show reporter Christine Ahern's camera gear during live cross in Melbourne

Today show reporter Christine Ahern has revealed she had quite a fright on Thursday morning, when thieves tried to steal her camera equipment during a live cross in Melbourne.

The veteran reporter told 3AW Breakfast that she and her team were reporting on a fire in Footscray, when a group of people approached them. 

'Our cameraman was just setting up the equipment on Nicholson Street for our first live cross, and he just put out the tripod and the light stand when there was a group of locals,' Christine began.

'They just picked up the equipment... and decided to take off with it!'

She added things got quite heated when her cameraman confronted the thieves.

'He quite bravely went up and said, 'Hey, what are you doing?' And the fellow said, 'These are mine now!'' she said. 

However, Christine said the thieves left empty-handed after a nearby firefighter noticed the commotion and scared them off, joking that the incident probably disrupted their schedule.

'The cops and the fireys probably had bigger things to deal with this morning!' she said. 

Christine is the daughter of former Queensland premier Mike Ahern, who died in August 2023 aged 81. 

She has achieved significant success in the industry both in Australia and internationally.

Christine has collected numerous awards, winning a Walkley and two Quills for her pandemic coverage in Melbourne during its peak.

Her coverage of outbreaks at the Epping Gardens Aged Care home made international news while Victoria was recording the highest infection rates in the world.

She started her professional career with ABC as a researcher on Landline before becoming a sports reporter and moving to 9News.

While there she covered five Olympics, three Commonwealth Games and the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa before moving to the Today Show.

She then became Nine's US Correspondent and relocated to Los Angeles, covering the United Nations in New York before spending time in Ukraine during the MH17 disaster.

After attending major Hollywood events like the Oscars and the Golden Globes, she returned to Melbourne and resumed her role on the Today Show.

In 2021, she flew from Melbourne to Brisbane for the Today Show and cameras captured a teary reunion when her parents surprised her in the terminal.

She was expecting to see them in the Sunshine Coast days later, but after she landed Christine was there flowers-in-hand to say hello.