Mel Doyle reveals brutal rejection from Channel Seven bosses
She co-hosted Sunrise for a decade and was credited with transforming the show into Australia’s highest-rating breakfast show, but Melissa Doyle has revealed just how difficult it is for women to climb up the ranks of the TV industry.
Before she landed the coveted Sunrise role, Doyle has for the first time revealed that she was bluntly told by a news director at Channel Seven that she didn’t have what it took to make it to the top.
The executive advised her to stick to being an “ordinary journalist” and give up on her dreams of becoming a presenter because she didn’t have the “looks” or “voice” to become a TV host.
Speaking on Nova Entertainment’s new podcast series, In Her Own Words, Doyle revealed the unnamed exec said to her, “You just don’t have it. You don’t have the looks, you don’t have the voice, just stick to being an on-the-road journalist and be happy with that.”
“I've got a manilla folder somewhere up in the roof full of letters from all the news directors around the country saying, ‘No, we haven't got anything [for you]’,” she added.
Doyle, 48, co-hosted Sunrise alongside David Koch from 2002 until 2013.
She currently hosts Seven’s Sunday Night program and is also a presenter on SmoothFM.