Budgies not smuggling enough Mike: Carlton’s nude awakening on Whale Beach

Residents of a Sydney beachside suburb say media commentator Mike Carlton regularly swims his morning laps stark naked — with reactions ranging from “desensitised” to “offended”.

Commentator Mike Carlton does not back away from causing controversy, and this time northern beaches locals have a bone to pick with him.

They say the 77-year-old former Fairfax columnist and author has been getting his kit off at Whale Beach too many mornings to count — with “Avalonians” copping an eyeful.

Rain, hail or shine, they say, Carlton loves to be at one with nature while swimming laps or walking along the 600m-long beach.

When contacted by The Saturday Telegraph on Friday, a fiery Carlton responded to our query about why he swims in the nude by saying: “I’m not the slightest bit interested in talking to you. F**k off.”

The Saturday Telegraph wasn’t lucky enough to snap Carlton in his birthday suit when at Whale Beach on Friday, but instead spotted the father-of-three sunning his trim body in a fluoro blue budgie smugglers.

Mike Carlton enjoys the sunny winter weather at Whale Beach last week — thankfully with swimmers on. Picture: Jeremy Piper

However, those who say they have witnessed his antics and seen him full-frontal describe it as a sight that’s hard to forget.

“I often go down to Whale Beach with my two teenage girls to do yoga early in the morning and the first thing we see is Mike Carlton getting out of the pool in the nude with everything on display,” one woman, who did not want to be named, said.

Mike Carlton enjoys the sunny winter weather at Whale Beach. Picture: Jeremy Piper

“All the locals talk about it, but he just loves it.

“One of the locals said something to him once and told him to put it away and he came back down in a pink G-string.”

Many regular Whale Beach-goers are “desensitised” by the act, which some describe it being as common as the sunrise.

Other say they were “shocked” and some a little “offended”.

Carlton when he hosted the breakfast on 2UE in 2003.

Locals say the media veteran is a regular at the beach.

“You know those people who have big characters? That’s him. It is like he is waiting for everyone to approach him. And so they purposely don’t,” said one neighbour.

Another Whale Beach regular, who also did not want to be named, said Carlton in the nude was known and accepted as “Mike being Mike”.

“All the clubbies who are the same age as him know and talk about it. It’s weird,” she said.

“It is just one of those things that everyone knows about and doesn’t like, but no one does anything about.

“It’s just Mike being Mike.”

Carlton has always had a passion for beach culture, here surfskiing at Palm Beach in 2008 to promote a document about Indonesia.

Carlton, who is in the midst of relentlessly slamming Qantas airlines on Twitter, is no stranger to controversy.

In 2014 he resigned from Fairfax media after being admonished by his editors after sending abusive emails and tweets to Jewish readers following his column on the Gaza conflict.

In 2023 he came under fire after criticising body image campaigner Taryn Brumfitt on her 2023 Australian of the Year win by saying she had made “a buck out of saying it’s OK to be a bit fat”.

“My Australian of the Year would be a doctor or nurse working nights in intensive care or the ED, dealing with Covid and daily death. Real, compassionate work. NOT someone who makes a buck out of saying it’s OK to be a bit fat,” he said.

During his decades working in the media industry, Carlton worked in radio and television as a reporter, foreign correspondent and later as a talkback radio host for 2GB and 2UE.

He was also a columnist at The Sydney Morning Herald for many years before he resigned, and has also authored naval history books.

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