That was one of the opening lines from teary former radio host Mel Greig when she sat down for an interview with Channel Seven’s Melissa Doyle that aired on Sunday Night.
Greig and her 2DayFM co-host Michael Christian rose to notorious fame in December 2012, after they pretended to be the Queen and Prince Charles and called the King Edward VII Hospital in London where Kate Middleton was being treated for acute morning sickness in the early stages of her pregnancy.
A nurse revealed details of Kate’s condition and from then on, a dramatic and harrowing turn of events took place – events that were blasted across global news stations and websites.
In the exclusive interview which aired last night, Mel Greig told how she urged senior managers to alter the recording, so that 2DayFm staff members’ voices could be used instead of the actual nurses. Her suggestions were ignored and the call went to air unaltered.
Three days later, Jacintha Saldanha – who was the nurse who had put through the call to the ward where Kate Middleton was staying – committed suicide and left a note blaming the 2Day FM hosts.
When asked how she felt when she found out the news, the pain is evident on Greig’s face.
“That’s a very dark place to visit… I felt like the worst person alive, and that feeling has never really gone away.”
Mel Greig and her co-host Michael Christian were taken off air after the tragic turn of incidents. Two months later, Christian returned to radio but Greig on the other hand, had become a target and was force into hiding, where she had 24-hour security. The death threats reportedly became so bad, that people were calling Greig’s mother and also threatening her, telling her she had to die for Greig’s mistake. Her father was also rushed to hospital apparently due to the stress of the events that had taken place.
“They targeted my family. They were innocent victims. They would ring my mum and say, ‘An eye for an eye … you need to die because she died,’” Greig said.
In the second part of the interview that aired, Greig told Doyle that only minutes after the call was recorded that Greig sent out an email requesting producers to alter the original recording, in a bid to save the nurses who took the prank call any embarrassment.
Southern Cross Austereo has now admitted this is true.
“I just remember myself laughing thinking how funny it was because it had worked. And then smart Mel kicked in soon after that going, ‘hang on this isn’t right’.
“I feel like a failure as a human being,”she said.
“I should have tried harder not to let that prank call air,” she told Doyle. “It never should have aired.”
When played back the recording of the prank call, Greig seems to struggle emotionally listening to it.
“I feel disgusted in myself listening back to it,” she says, with tears rolling down her face.
The fall-out from the prank call included Greig being dumped by the charities she fronted and she has remained unemployed; even community radio stations turn her down.
Her co-host Michael Christian has seemingly managed to avoid the majority of the negative backlash that surrounded the prank call. In June 2013, Southern Cross Austereo awarded Christian the Next Top Jock award.
The inquest into Jacintha Saldanha’s death has now been postponed three times, and 18 months later, Mel Greig is the only person from the radio station who is determined to give evidence in court and apologise to Saldanha’s family.
Did you watch the interview with Mel Greig on Sunday Night? What are your thoughts?
Top Comments
Phoning to get information on someones condition who is sick in hospital is just off and intrusive and inappropriate. As a nurse myself i would feel completely ashamed and find it difficult to face my fellow workers if i made the mistake this nurse did (one reason i never give out info to relatives over the phone even though some like to abuse me for it). I would feel like the biggest idiot and the butt of everyones jokes not a nice thing to happen. Ok this nurse might have had mental health issues but this prank has pushed her over the edge so it was a causative factor in perhaps her feeling of worthlessness and her decision to not go on living. However does Mel need to pay for this for the rest of her life no way, she is obviously sorry she needs and deserves to be happy and respected again.
Sorry "Guest"........I didn't "intend" for anyone to miss the point I was trying to make.....
Random things happen when we leave our front doors and go out into the world where our mere presence (or not) might alter another person's timing or choices.
Try not to dwell on it too much..........xxx's