Channel 7 reporter Matt Doran returns to TV after mental health struggles

Matt Doran has returned to television after taking time off to address mental health concerns, months after his disastrous Adele interview.

Weekend Sunrise star Matt Doran made a surprise return to television on Tuesday, one month after time off “to focus on his mental health”.

The Channel 7 reporter appeared to be in good spirits as he appeared live from Auchenflower in Brisbane for flood coverage on Sunrise.

Co-host Natalie Barr crossed live to Doran, who interviewed locals about the impact of flooding in inner city Brisbane.

Doran, 38, has been off-air for four weeks after checking into a mental health facility to address “severe depression” following his disastrous Adele interview in November last year.

Insiders say he was “devastated” after the media backlash that ensued and subsequently “sought treatment for an undisclosed issue”.

Matt Doran has returned to TV this morning after mental health struggles. Picture: Sunrise

Seven would not comment on Matt Doran’s return, although sources say the television presenter has finished his four weeks of leave and will be returning to co-hosting duties on Weekend Sunrise on Saturday.

He will be working again alongside co-host Monique Wright.

“He’s finished his four weeks and with everything going on in Queensland and northern NSW it was an opportune time for Matt to put his journalistic skills to work,” a source said.

Doran went viral and made international headlines last year after he confessed that he had not listened to Grammy award-winning singer Adele’s new album 30 after being flown to London for an exclusive sit-down chat.

Doran returned for flood coverage in Auchenflower.

He later apologised and explained that the situation was one big mix-up.

“When I sat down to interview Adele, I was totally unaware that I’d been emailed a preview of her unreleased album,” he told The Australian at the time.

“I have since discovered it was sent to me as an ‘e card’ link, which I somehow missed upon landing in London. It was an oversight but NOT a deliberate snub. This is the most important email I have ever missed.

“Adele didn’t storm out. In fact, it was the polar opposite. What was meant to be 20 minutes was extended to 29 minutes.

“The majority of the chat was about the album. I told her: ‘I’ve only had the privilege of hearing Easy on Me, but not the other tracks’.

As part of a long discussion about the new album, I remark that it would be reductive to say it’s about heartbreak and divorce; instead, it’s about empowerment and hope.”

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