Channel 7’s rare, exclusive sit-down with Adele in London was supposed to be one of the biggest TV events of 2021.
Instead, the planned half-hour interview, organised by Sony, quickly turned into a publicity nightmare after journalist Matt Doran was left red-faced when he allegedly upset the pop icon by not listening to her new album, 30, beforehand.
Watch: Natalie Barr reveals Sunrise COVID-19 scare live on air
When Sony refused to hand over any of the tapes, Matt had to explain himself to his bosses, breaking the news that he’d be coming home empty-handed – there was no interview.
With Channel 7 having spent a rumoured $70,000 on business-class flights and five-star hotels for Matt and his own production team, New Idea can now exclusively reveal the Weekend Sunrise co-host has all but done his dash to replace veteran Sunrise host David Koch when the time comes.
“He’s cooked his goose as far as being the heir apparent to Kochie. No matter what happened in that interview with Adele, Channel 7 simply can’t take another risk,” says a network source.
“This was a sure-fire guarantee to rake in millions of dollars of revenue – but that clearly all went very wrong.”
According to reports, network bigwigs are said to be “fuming”, with more shocking revelations emerging that Matt, who has faced a barrage of national and international backlash, was not the network’s first pick to send.
“I heard he was the last man standing – their fifth choice. Initially, they wanted Sonia [Kruger] or Michael Usher, but they had other commitments. They even discussed sending Nat [Barr] or Mel Doyle.
“In the end, they decided to go with Matt, and it turned out to be quite the public debacle,” the source explains. “In the bigger picture, Nat is not happy that the entire network has been dragged into this awful predicament.”
Certainly, this isn’t the first time Matt, 37, has faced backlash over an assignment. The insider reveals Nat, who sits opposite Matt on Sunrise on Fridays, has always been “OK” with him, but now she is not so sure that she wants him as her co-host.
Already dubbed ‘Adele-gate’, while the actual details of what happened in that London studio remains a mystery, one thing is certain – the former ‘golden boy’, who was allegedly “suspended” by Channel 7 for two weeks after flying home from London, is rightly concerned for his future.
“When the story first broke, reports suggested he got to the end of the interview and had to admit to Adele he’d not listened to her work,” reveals the insider.
But despite reports Matt was “suspended” after the debacle, he has since denied those claims, maintaining all went well with Adele and that he had simply missed an email from Sony that had the link to her new music.
The fallout of Matt’s blunder is catastrophic, tells our insider, who says the network has already made their decision regarding who the new favourite will be.
“They’ve been grooming former Olympian Matt Shirvington – everyone loves him and he’s their new golden boy,” reveals the source, who insists he’s got Kochie’s job in the bag.
“It also now puts Michael Usher in a good spot to be a contender to replace Kochie. It won’t be long before everything on Sunrise is back to normal.
Read more in this week’s New Idea, on sale now.
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