Melissa Doyle recalls Seven departure on Powerful Stories podcast
Former Sunrise and Sunday Night host Melissa Doyle has shared her reflections on departing Seven last year, in a chat on Tory Archbold’s Powerful Stories podcast.
Doyle’s 25-year-stint with the Seven Network ended in August 2020, and in that time she also worked across 7NEWS, Today Tonight and 11AM, covering the Beaconsfield mine disaster, multiple Olympic Games, the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 tragedy, the Lindt café siege, the Paris attacks, and much more.
She joined founder and director of brand communications agency Torstar, Tory Archbold, for Nova Entertainment’s Powerful Stories podcast, to recall what it felt like to be let go from Seven and the adjustments she was forced to make in her life during the transition.
The Smooth FM weekend morning presenter revealed that she had felt like “part of the furniture” at Seven but felt grateful that she had been able to end her time there as part of the network’s COVID-19 coverage.
“I had to adjust in so many ways. I’d been there for so long that I felt like I was part of the furniture. It took a little while to get over it. I decided that it was okay to do that,” she said. “I felt grateful that I could go out on a high. We were doing around the clock coverage. It was the biggest story of the century.
“I felt grateful to leave on a professional high, personally it was a great thing to finally get to a point where someone said ‘good luck for your next adventure, time for a change’.
“Change is so important, and is healthy for you.”
Speaking about the reception she received after announcing her departure, Doyle told Archbold she has no regrets, and that it wasn’t a personal decision but something she had to live with.
“It’s never a personal decision when a company lets someone go. So i just said ‘that’s the way it is’.
“I got quite teary with some of the lovely messages. I really genuinely meant it, and still do to this day. I had the most extraordinary opportunities to be a journalist… to have the chance to do that, cover the stories, meet the people I did.
“You can look at something one of two ways. I’m a glass half full person, I chose to say thank you. That was wonderful, thanks for the ride.”
Listen to the full podcast here.
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Zanda Wilson was a reporter and podcast producer at Mumbrella, specialising in radio reporting. He left Mumbrella in September 2021.
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