Australian DJ who prank called Kate Middleton maternity ward shares secret suicide battle
19 August 2019, 11:00 | Updated: 19 August 2019, 11:45
Mel Greig appeared on Monday's This Morning to open up about the aftermath of her 'prank call' to the Lindo Wing when Kate Middleton was pregnant with Prince George.
The Australian DJ whose hospital prank call was cited as a contributing factor in a nurse's suicide has revealed the situation also made her consider taking her own life.
In 2012, Mel Greig and co-host Michael Christian called the hospital where Kate Middleton was being treated for extreme morning sickness while pregnant with Prince George.
Their call - in which they impersonated the Queen and Prince Philip - was picked up by Jacintha Saldhana, a nurse at the hospital who took her own life three days later as media interest in the situation, which saw private medical details of the Duchess of Cambridge spread across the world.
Today Mel, 36, told This Morning presenters Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford that she too considered drastic measures as the situation raged out of control.
She said: "People were telling me 'go kill yourself'.
"I faced the battle to save my own life. I thought about whether it was an option for me [suicide]. I remember sitting on the bathroom floor.. but in that moment I decided to choose life, learn from it, and help other people in the future."
"We didn't think we'd get through and we didn't think we would get private information.
"It was meant to be a silly funny prank with the presenters' terrible English accents as the joke. But after Jacintha gave out private information about the Duchess, things rapidly turned sour.
"We made the call on the Tuesday, the next day the hospital said the nurses wouldn't be punished. Prince Charles made a joke of it. It's time to laugh.
Official Radio Prank Call from 2Day FM That Lead Nurse To Commit Suicide | Kate Middleton Prank Call
"We were worldwide news and people were laughing with us. But when tragedy struck, I think a lot of news outlets felt embarrassed."
Mel added that when she was told that Jacintha had taken her own life, she struggled to deal with the enormity of the situation.
She said: "When it happened it was almost instant. I went in to a place of intense guilt and I asked my bosses, 'was she a mother?'
"There's a time for six hours where I was hovering over myself. I could see my partner holding me back from a balcony."
In 2014, she flew to the UK to attend the inquest in to the nurse's tragic death - and she didn't know if she would ever see her family or friends again.
Mel added: "I wrote my will the night before, thinking I wouldn't be going back to Australia after the inquest."
While in the UK she claims that she "looked Jacintha's daughter in the eye and made a connection" as she apologised - and since then has decided to try and use her platform for good.
She told Eamonn and Ruth: "If I'm going to be in the press, and whether it's talking about endometriosis or mental health or the cyber bullying that I went through, I want to try and raise awareness for all those things with the platform I've been given."
However, not everyone is willing to move forward, with Mel admitting that it still affects her life in negative ways.
She said: "It goes through phases. It depends where I am working. Two weeks ago I had a contract then up at a radio station. And I hadn't mentioned the prank call.
"It's affected my career, friendships, relationships. It still interferes in my life."
