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Melissa Doyle joins Nine a year after losing her job at Seven due to Covid
Melissa Doyle has signed with rival Channel Nine a year after leaving Channel Seven due to Covid-19 budget cuts.
The 51-year-old former Sunrise host will return to TV with Nine's docuseries Australia Behind Bars, which she will present and narrate.
The show is produced by ITV and is about life in three NSW prisons. It's set to air "in the next few months" according to The Australian.
The show was reportedly filmed pre-lockdown and shot at Dillwynia and Silverwater jails in Sydney’s west, and Wellington jail near Dubbo.
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"We’re told it will even look in-depth at the impact of Covid-19 on correctional facilities, with each fresh prisoner forced to spend two weeks in a 'quarantine' cell to protect the general jail population," the publication reports. "That will be interesting, given a coronavirus case involving a new prisoner at Silverwater jail made headlines last week."
60 Minutes reporter Sarah Abo and former Prisoner star Val Lehman were reportedly being considered for the role.
Melissa famously hosted a number of Seven's programs during her 25 years with the network, including Today Tonight, Sunday Night, various bulletins and Sunrise from 2002 to 2013.
When she left Seven, Melissa said in a statement at the time, "I have some personal news to share. After twenty-five years I am leaving the Seven Network. Whilst I am sad to be leaving, I do so with a great deal of pride, satisfaction and gratitude.
"Every ending is a beginning and I’m excited for what comes next."
The presenter recently admitted there were a few tears when she was replaced by Samantha Armytage in 2013.
"Every change has been a challenge, but I think it’s really important to not look for the negative in things that happen," she explained on Nova's podcast Powerful Steps, adding challenges during her childhood helped her learn to come back stronger.
"Like so many people growing up, there was, you know, my parents split when I was a tiny baby and both of my parents remarried a few times," Melissa said.
"So I grew up with my motto being 's**t happens', you know? And I think it’s really important to just remember s**t happens and I’m not going to sit in the corner and woe is me."
Melissa also told host Tory Archbold she felt as though she was on autopilot after leaving Seven, where she had worked for almost half her life.
"I had to adjust in so many ways because I’d been there for so long that I felt like I was part of the furniture. So I had to, in my brain, stop talking about myself working at Seven in the present tense," she recalled.
"And then every morning I’d hop in the car to go to the gym or go somewhere and it’d say, you know, '25 minutes to Martin Place, traffic is light'. And that was like, oh, gee, thanks, you know, throwing salt in the wound. But it took a little while just to kind of, I guess, get over it."
Melissa stressed she isn't bitter towards Seven and is simply grateful for every opportunity she received.
"I’m a glass half full person and I chose to say thank you. That was wonderful. Thanks for the ride. My gosh, I’ve just loved it," she said, adding she didn't believe the network's decision to let her go was a personal one.
"It's just that's the way it is."
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