Channel Seven star details disastrous interview with royal Sarah Ferguson: 'Hot mess'

The interview with Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, continues to go viral every few years.

Marni Dixit
·Senior Entertainment & Lifestyle Reporter
Updated ·5-min read
Channel Seven journalist Michael Usher has spoken out about his disastrous interview with Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York. Photo: Nine
Channel Seven journalist Michael Usher has spoken out about his disastrous interview with Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York. Photo: Nine

Getting an interview with a royal is rare and very difficult to come by, so if it doesn't go to plan, it's less than ideal. So, when Michael Usher landed an interview with Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York for 60 Minutes in 2011, he was no doubt excited to get a good exclusive from her as it had only been one year since her infamous News of the World scandal where she accepted a bribe from an undercover reporter in exchange for access to her ex-husband Prince Andrew.

Michael has spoken about the 'hot mess' interview while appearing on Nova 96.9's Fitzy & Wippa with Kate Ritchie on Thursday morning. The interview went viral when it was first released, and over the years, it has continued to be a popular piece of content.

Wippa described the interview as "one of the best" TV moments in recent history, with Michael, who now works for Channel Seven, saying, "Wasn't that a hot mess?"

"How do you not just lose your cool?" Kate asked about the interview.

"I had nothing up my sleeve," Michael said. "I had no extra things other than what she had written about in her book, and she was trying to make a lot of money off the book, right? So she's agreed there were no conditions on that interview at all and we'd flown all the way to London to do the interview, and I had to call her Duchess. She wouldn't let me call her Sarah, lots and lots of airs and graces, but she was fine, and she was relatively sweet.

"But then there was just this moment…she turned and getting her back into the chair, was crazy. She came back and she continued the interview, and then it was like a different personality again."

Michael then shared what happened after the interview, saying, "At the end of the whole interview, and I've never spoken about this before, I sat in the chair, she eventually walked out, my producer came over to me and we just stared at each other. The cameraman, from behind the camera, looked out and said, 'What was that?' And I said, 'I don't know what happened there.'

"We walked outside, and the Duchess came running up behind me. She chucked her heels off and she's in her stockings on the lawn. Going 'Michael, how was that? and by that stage, I just said, 'Sarah, if I were you, I'd be asking to go back into the room and do that interview all over again, because I don't know what happened.' Then she goes 'Oh, well, anyway, who wants to sign some books? I'll sign your book for you. What are your kids names?' And off she went from there."

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He added, "Perhaps she is just a hot mess, I don't know."

Fitzy asked if he was "freaking out" in the moment, with Michael responding, "Oh gosh yeah...I wanted her to sit down and engage in a conversation. So you've got to try and say, 'Look, hang on. Come back, be calm. Let's try it again.' And it was, it was a frustrating exercise professionally."

While Sarah was happy to write about the incident in her book, didn't seem as keen to speak with Michael, despite the fact they'd spent a day together before sitting down for the 60 Minutes interview.

Michael asked her if she had taken the cash with her, and Sarah responded, "Absolutely, yes, and it was given to me. I got in the car and then returned it straight away."

"Once the scandal broke?" Michael asked.

"As soon as I knew it was a scandal, not once it broke, Michael, but don't try and trick me now because I'm not going to play this game," she responded. Sarah then looked down the barrel of the camera and said, "Delete that bit, because I don't want to go down this – it's too tabloidy."

Michael pointed out that she had written about the whole scandal in her book, but she continued to be blunt and not offering him a good conversation.

It didn't take long for Sarah to walk out of the interview, leaving Michal looking flabbergasted.

Sarah Ferguson was given A$62,000 and was promised a further A$995,000 for access to Prince Andrew. Photo: Getty
Sarah Ferguson was given A$62,000 and was promised a further A$995,000 for access to Prince Andrew. Photo: Getty

In the footage that was captured by the tabloid, Sarah is seen sitting in front of A$62,000 and having a conversation with the reporter. Sarah says he was posing as a wealthy sheik who wanted an introduction to Prince Andrew.

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She negotiated a further future payment of A$995,000 and took the cash with her.

In an interview with Oprah Winfrey after the scandal broke, Sarah said she had been drinking and described it as "an act of such gross stupidity", but added she did it to 'help a friend'.

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