Hospital admission spurs talk ‘Uncle’ Doug Mulray in health crisis

Legendary radio personality Doug Mulray’s recent admission to a Sydney hospital has spurred talk that the star is in the midst of a health crisis.

Legendary radio personality Doug Mulray’s recent admission to a Sydney hospital has spurred talk that the star is in the midst of a health crisis.

The larrikin comedian, entertainer and retired breakfast radio heavyweight is said to be battling chronic illness.

The notoriously private Mulray, who turned 71 this month, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

The news comes seven weeks after the reclusive Mulray made a surprise appearance at a Triple M staff reunion party at Neutral Bay’s Oaks Hotel.

Doug Mulray from a video posted last month from Triple M's staff reunion at The Oaks Hotel in Neutral Bay.

In an emotional speech, Mulray spoke of the “social glue” that for four decades sustained the radio station and specifically praised retired Sydney radio executive Rod Muir, brother of Mulray’s long-term partner Lizzie.

“There would be no Triple M without that man there,” he said, pointing to Muir, now aged about 80, and once considered the father of Australian FM radio.

“We were the right thing, at the right time, in the right place, with the right attitude. It was just an astounding thing to be part of. We were blessed to have that thing … It was a joy to be there.

“When I left radio I was over it. I wanted the privacy and I kind of distanced myself … It was kind of like a fantasy.

“It always felt to be good to be with you guys. Be together. And I want to thank you for that. Thank you.”

Australian TV presenter Doug Mulray in 2002.

The star, dubbed “Uncle Doug”, retreated from the spotlight close to two decades ago after briefly hosting Network Ten’s Beauty And The Beast in 2002 and appearing as a judge on Nine’s Starstruck in 2005.

After being inducted into radio’s ACRA Hall of Fame in 2019, he made a rare albeit arms-length public appearance.

In a video recorded from his apartment on the CDB fringe, Mulray, who sounded breathless, joked in his acceptance speech that he had hoped to “disappear up my own arse in a flash of blue flame sometime before 2020” and described his 15 years in FM radio as a “near-death experience”.

While recounting the early days of Triple M when bags of marijuana were, he claimed, dispensed to staff, Mulray – who was never known for his sobriety – also joked, while taking a swig from what appeared to be a glass of water, that “vodka helped”.