Weekend Sunrise host Matt Doran makes emotional on-air announcement one year after ‘vanishing’ during Hunter Valley wedding bus assignment
Matt Doran has called time on his five years at Weekend Sunrise.
The breakfast show host, 41, made the emotional announcement live on air at the end of today’s show on Sunday.
The Seven star, who recently opened up about his struggles with depression on The Morning Show, said he will be taking time to focus on family and to pursue other opportunities.
‘Before we go today, a bit of breaking news from the Doran household. I Want to share with you a decision I’ve made, with my beautiful wife Kendall – and of course in earnest consultation with our beloved Italian greyhound Murphy – and this is, after give years at Weekend Sunrise, I will be finishing up at the end of the year,’ he said.
‘This is something I’ve agonised over because it’s honest to say this is one of the best jobs on earth, but we think it’s right and at the right time – for our little family.’
‘While I’m sad, and I’m doing everything possible presently not to look Mon in the eye, where I am right now is honestly a place of incredible gratitude for the laughs, the lessons, the tears, the phenomenal sense of life perspective, the carousels of astonishing snacks and I guess even the tofu.’
‘It is my unshakeable belief that this role – specifically, being entrusted with the telling of people’s most intimate, most personal stories – is one of the mroe privileged positions on the planet.’
Matt will present his final episode of Weekend Sunrise on Sunday, December 8, alongside his long-time co-host Monique Wright.
The breakfast show host broke down in tears speaking about his friendship with his closest colleague.
‘Mon, you are not just a colleague, you are my best friend and I am going to miss you, any chance of a hug?’ he said.
‘I am going to miss you.’
In September, Matt appeared on Morning Sunrise to spruik his latest book, Mental State, on Australia’s mental healthcare system – he bravely opened up about his own struggles with depression.
The breakfast show host revealed his troubles on Friday as he and co-host Kylie Gillies interviewed psychologist and author Mark Cross
‘Are we getting better, do you think, Doctor, at putting our hand up like you did and saying, “I’ve got a problem with anxiety”?’ Matt asked Dr Cross.
‘I’ve had huge problems with depression over the last couple of years, too, but people, I think, are still frightened to come forward and say that.’
‘It’s amazing you say that… the more we talk about it the better it is,’ Dr Cross said, commending Matt for speaking so openly about his depression on television.
Matt has sparked concerns in recent years after he mysteriously disappeared from work on two separate occasions.
In June, he failed to arrive to the Seven studios for work on Weekend Sunrise, leaving producers scrambling to find a fill-in host, The Daily Telegraph reported.
He was replaced by news reporter Chris Reason who returned to host the breakfast show alongside Monique Wright on Saturday, June 8.
A Channel Seven spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia at the time that Matt was ‘on leave’.
It comes after Matt sparked a frantic police search last year when he vanished during a work assignment in the Hunter Valley. The star reporter had been sent to cover a wedding bus crash that claimed the lives of 10 people but failed to show up for his 5:30am shift on June 13, 2023
Matt’s disappearance came one year after he sparked a frantic police search when he vanished during a work assignment in the Hunter Valley in June last year.
The star reporter had been sent to cover a wedding bus crash that claimed the lives of 10 people but failed to show up for his 5:30am shift on June 13.
Insiders said when producers went to look for Matt in his Singleton hotel, knocks on his door went unanswered.
The high-profile crime reporter had last been seen speaking to members of the Singleton community at a local football ground.
Earlier, locals had seen Matt leaving the home of newly married couple Mitchell Gaffney and Maddy Edsell, whose wedding was at the centre of the tragedy.
When the reporter failed to answer calls, texts and emails ahead of his scheduled appearance on Sunrise, a producer went to check his hotel room.
Worried colleagues contacted police, who issued a missing persons alert.
Matt was eventually found at a nearby café and was swiftly replaced by his colleague Liam Tapper on air.
Insiders say several factors could have contributed to his troubling behaviour, with one suggesting Matt may have struggled with the confronting nature of the wedding bus crash tragedy.
Matt took several weeks of personal leave after he vanished in the Hunter Valley and was reportedly spending time at home ‘prioritising his health’.
He was replaced by his colleague Michael Usher on Weekend Sunrise.
Matt, who started his career as a police reporter at the Herald Sun, joined Seven in 2017 after spending almost eight years in Network Ten’s newsroom.
Two years later, he was promoted to his current role as co-host of Weekend Sunrise, alongside Monique Wright, after intermittently filling in for weekday host David Koch.
