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Tributes have been paid to Australian sports presenter Duncan McKenzie-McHarg after his shock death at the age of 41.
The Los Angeles County coroner’s office confirmed the star – who had previously worked with Channel 7, Channel 10 and Fox Sports – passed away having suffered “blunt traumatic injuries” in Los Angeles on December 17.
The body of McKenzie-McHarg was found on a roof, with reports claiming he had fallen from a building.
The presenter had moved to Los Angeles three years ago, after landing a dream job as Stan Sport’s Los-Angeles-based reporter.
On Australian TV screens, McKenzie-McHarg was regularly seen during Stan’s coverage of the tennis.
Most recently, he had interviewed players competing at the US Open in New York in August.
Prior to his TV broadcasting career, McKenzie-McHarg had been a reporter on Triple M’s Hot Breakfast with his boyhood idol Eddie McGuire.
It was a job he landed by chance, having always admired McGuire for his “quick and versatile” broadcasting technique.
When McKenzie-McHarg was around 16 years old, McGuire came to his school to give a talk.
“He was a proper entertainer,” McKenzie-McHarg recalled in a 2023 interview with Radio Today. “I left the lecture theatre thinking that I wanted to be like that guy.”
He finally got the chance to work with the man he admired so much, after studying journalism at Monash University and getting the opportunity to impress radio bosses.
The routine was demanding, with McKenzie-McHarg having to go to bed at 8pm each weekday in order to rise at 4am – something he described as “pretty brutal”.
But he praised McGuire as a great mentor.
“He was firm, but fair,” he told Radio Today. “Eddie used to tell me, ‘When you come on-air, you need to deliver the news like it’s the most important thing in the world.’”
As news of McKenzie-McHarg’s sudden death spread, fans of the star took to his Instagram page to share their disbelief.
Australian radio star Jade Robran was one of the first to share her own tribute.
“Oh Mac Mac, my heart just broke,” she wrote. “You were the shining light on cold, wet Melbourne mornings… I’ll always remember you’d play Justin Bieber and we’d sing and laugh to pass the time. You are one in a million & the world is a little emptier without the joy you bought to us all. Rest peacefully my friend.”
“Mate – Your smile, your banter, your professionalism. What a mark you made,” another tribute read.
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