When Melissa Doyle was at the height of her career on Sunrise, she appeared to have it all. And, on some level, she did: a successful career, beautiful family and a comfortable lifestyle that many would envy. It wasn’t until she left the morning show in 2013 – and her subsequent role as host on Sunday Night in 2019 – that she realised how the demands of her extraordinary career had impacted her mental health.
From early morning starts to the juggles of being a working mum and everything in between, she had been sacrificing parts of herself without even realising it.
“I was always rushing,” Mel, 55, recalls to TV WEEK. “I wasn’t even aware of it when I was in the thick of working hard, but I had periods of being totally burnt out and just pushing through. When I stepped down from the pace [of Sunrise and Sunday Night], I realised how exhausted I was.”
In a daily routine that saw the acclaimed journalist wake at 3am to either head to the studio or out on the road to cover breaking news – even abroad for big events – there was absolutely no downtime.
“My husband [John Dunlop] pointed out that I would often drop things, run into walls or donk the washing basket because I was going so fast,” she explains. “I would hang out the washing out in the middle of the night before I went to bed.”
As a journalist, Mel loved the thrill of chasing a story. “That’s all you know when you’re in that zone,” she says. But, as her children – Nick and Talia, who are now 24 and 21 – grew, the pull was too much. As for many parents, the guilt was ever present.
In 2006 Mel flew to Beaconsfield, Tasmania, to cover the daring rescue of two men, Brant Webb and Todd Russell, who had become trapped in a mine after it collapsed.
“We’d been told the men had been found alive, so I figured they’d be rescued from the mine in a day or two,” she says, adding that she assumed she’d be home soon afterwards. “[But] I was there for two weeks. I remember calling home to say that I didn’t know when I’d be back.”
During those years, even when she wasn’t working, Mel would be running errands, helping the kids and being as present as she could be.
“I felt that if I was away from my family, it was for work and that’s enough,” she says. “It felt selfish to go for a walk or a gym class or to see friends.”
But as she embarks on a new mind, body and health journey as co-host of The House of Wellness alongside Shane Crawford, Mel now understands that she needed to prioritise her own health in order to serve others. The series, which explores the best practices and tips for our wellbeing, will include presenters and experts such as Abbey Holmes, Yvie Jones, Dr Andrew Rochford and Archie Thompson, among others.
“We must get rid of that feeling that doing something for yourself is selfish,” she says. “We have to be healthy to look after others and it took me a long time to realise that.”
With more time now on her side, Mel is enjoying the slower pace of life. In addition to The House of Wellness, she has released multiple books, a podcast series and recently visited Kenya as an ambassador for World Vision Australia. It’s the flexibility she has long craved and with it comes a sense of empowerment and ownership. Mel is no longer chasing a lead or racing to get to where she needs to be – she walks the dog, enjoys a wine with friends and, most importantly, has stopped looking at the clock.
“Years ago, anything to do with health and wellness came down to doing exercise and eating a few greens,” she says. “Now, it’s a much wider umbrella of interests – it’s about our minds and our bodies and what makes us feel good.”
Mel has learnt to find her version of wellness in various ways, whether that’s out in nature with the dog or at the gym with her daughter. And it all comes with an acceptance and a willingness to fail, rebuild and try again.
“I want to stay strong as I get older – it’s not all about fitting into skinny jeans,” she says with a laugh. “But I try not to overload my plate or anybody else’s. “I’m kinder to myself now and have learnt to incorporate little things into my world that make me calmer, stronger and happier. I love having this time.”
