The TV regular, 52, says her new book helped her find perspective during a challenging time…
Melissa Doyle has just released her third book, 15 Seconds Of Brave. And as she’s done for the past three decades, she’s shining a light on people who’ve braved their traumas to go on and achieve greatness in their lives.
But at the start of 2020, when the book’s concept first surfaced, Mel was trying to stay brave herself.
“There were so many things going on and I remember having this feeling of, ‘What’s going on here?'” she tells Woman’s Day.
On the precipice of turning 50, Mel wasn’t sleeping, the Seven show she’d been anchoring, Sunday Night, had just been axed, and her son Nick was getting ready to move overseas.
Mel’s book explores her struggles during COVID-19.
(Image: Phillip Castleton, Styled by: Parlour X, Jewels: Fairfax and Roberts)EMOTIONAL TIME
Combined with a global pandemic, it was safe to say Mel’s life had become untethered.
“It wasn’t just me – we were all going through different versions of the same emotions. “Things were changing around us all,” she adds. “But I like being proactive and suddenly I had all this time on my hands and I thought, ‘Well, how can I use it?'”
Mel says the upheaval made her want to write a book around stories that would make readers who were also struggling feel like they weren’t alone.
“It just felt natural for me – to do a book talking to different people who had been through very different experiences and ask about what had got them through and find out what we can all learn from that. I’m a storyteller, I love telling stories and I always will.”
Mel has released her third book.
(Image: Phillip Castleton, Styled by: Parlour X, Jewels: Fairfax and Roberts)BEHIND THE CAMERA
The experience of writing the book has even made the TV star, who’s hosting Seven’s This Is Your Life reboot, realise just how much she enjoys being behind the camera rather than in front.
“Writing and interviewing people for a book was very different from interviewing them for a TV program. I found they were a bit more open in a lot of ways because there wasn’t a camera in front of them,” she says.
“It was great just learning how to manage people’s vulnerabilities in a way that I hadn’t before. The whole new experience was just an amazing learning curve and I felt it gave me a sense of perspective, too.”
BEING BRAVE
Mel says that at 52 she “likes to think” that she’s brave. “I hope I am,” the seasoned journalist, who’s travelled the world covering terror attacks and floods, adds sheepishly.
“I mean, given the book I’ve just written and the people I’ve just spoken to, no. That’s bravery. But I think we all have moments where you’ve just got to dig deep at challenging times.”
“I love telling stories and I always will.”
(Image: Instagram)From breaking international stories like the Beaconsfield mine collapse and the Lindt cafe siege or interviewing frontline workers during the Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria, Mel has had her fair share of challenging times, too.
And yet, she’s never toyed with the idea of telling her own story.
“That’s a no thanks,” she laughs. “I’d much rather be on the asking side than the answering side. Even this [interview] is making me a little…” she trails off nervously.
“It’s much easier to ask the questions. Anything I’ve ever done comes nowhere near what the people I’ve encountered and interviewed have done. Maybe I’ll tell my grandkids one day when I’m a really old lady about what I’ve done.”
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