entertainment

Fluff: Melissa George claims Channel 7 staff called her 'an Aussie b*tch'.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Australian actress, Melissa George, 38, has for the first time spoken publicly about the time she had a ‘meltdown’ on Channel Seven’s Morning Show.

The infamous ‘meltdown’ interview took place in 2012, when George appeared on the Morning Show to discuss the role she was currently playing in US television show Hunted. However the hosts introduced George with extensive references and questions to her role on Australian favourite Home and Away, a show in which she hadn’t appeared in for over a decade.

George became so agitated with the line of questioning that she threatened to walk out of the interview, leading many public commentators to suggest that the now world-renowned actress is ashamed of her humble Aussie beginnings.

Fast forward to 2014 and George has now spoken with  Fairfax’s Sunday Life about the events which she claims happened prior to that interview. George is alleging that before she went on set to be interviewed, she had heard Morning Show staff calling her an ‘Aussie bitch’. She told Fairfax:

“I overheard before I went out on stage, ‘Let’s not talk about Hunted or The Slap or anything, because they’re not our network. Let’s have the Aussie bitch promote Home and Away.’ I thought, ‘You’re really going to do that? Really? I come home and pay my taxes and work – I’m very much a proud Australian”

George says Channel 7 were deliberately refusing to engage with her about her current or more recent roles, instead choosing to only ask about a show that was owned by their network. However according to industry blog Mumbrella a spokesperson for the channel seven is denying that such events took place. “We’re a loss on the claim as it did not happen,” the network said.

Furthermore, Mumbrella has stated:

A program like The Morning Show would be unlikely to see staff discussing among themselves what to cover in an interview by the time a show is on air. Scripts and suggested questions for presenters are prepared and loaded onto the autocue long before guests arrive, and senior producers would be in the control room away from the guests.

The Executive Producer at the time, Sarah Stinson told TV Tonight George was shown the script 15 minutes before the 2012 interview and told producers “I don’t care what you ask me.”

Following the interview in 2012, the mother-of-one told the  media:

“I don’t need credibility from my country any more, I just need them all to be quiet,” she said. “If they have nothing intelligent to say, please don’t speak to me any more. I’d rather be having a croissant and an espresso in Paris or walking my French bulldog in New York City.

“I’ve never spoken out about it because I have to be the loyal good Aussie, who goes away and comes home.

“But I’m a really hard-working woman and people have to respect me for what I’ve done … my next call will be to Home And Away to ask them to pay me because nobody does more promotion for that f … ing show than me.”

George later apologised for her comments after they offended many in the Australian film and television industry.