Southern Cross Austereo radio host Mel Greig says she tried to prevent the royal prank call being played

IN AN emotional interview with the Seven Network, Mel Greig has revealed that she made a dramatic move just minutes after THAT controversial prank call.

ONE of the 2Day FM radio hosts behind the royal prank call scandal has revealed she “expressed certain concerns” and “suggested that it should be played a different way” just minutes after the call was made.

Mel Greig was co-hosting the Hot 30 Countdown with Michael Christian in December 2012 when they decided to impersonate the Queen and Prince Charles and call the hospital where Kate Middleton was being treated for morning sickness.

Mel Greig and Michael Christian went to ground after the royal prank call.

The prank went global and three days later the nurse who answered the call took her own life.

In one of three suicide notes, nurse Jacintha Saldanha wrote, “I hold the radio Australians Mel Greig and Michael Christian responsible for this act. Please make them pay my mortgage”.

In an interview with Seven’s Sunday Night, Greig said she was “ashamed” of herself.

“I should have tried harder not to let that prank call air,” she said. “It never should have aired.”

Minutes after the call was recorded, Greig says she emailed her bosses at Southern Cross Austereo and urged them to disguise the nurse’s voices before the audio was played on air, but her request was ignored.

A bunch of flowers outside Jacintha Saldahna’s hospital.

An undated family photograph of Jacintha Saldanha.

“It just didn’t seem right that we would broadcast that without permission,” Greig said.

“I just remember myself laughing thinking how funny it was because it had worked. And then smart Mel kicked in soon after that going, ‘hang on this isn’t right’.

“I feel disgusted in myself listening back to it.”

Greig was informed about Saldanha’s death by her boyfriend, who was concerned that the radio host would jump off the balcony after hearing the news.

“I felt like the worst person alive and that feeling hasn’t really gone away,” Greig said.

In the weeks after the call, Greig and her family received death threats, “they would ring my mum and say, ‘An eye for an eye … you need to die because she died,’” Greig said.

Mel Greig is now engaged to Steven Pollock.

“Dad was rushed to hospital from the stress and I thought, ‘great now I’ve killed my dad too.’”

More than 15 months later, Greig remains unemployed and is only just starting to forgive herself for taking part in the call.

“At the start when this first happened I absolutely blamed myself,” Greig said.

“I felt like I’d failed as a human being. To make someone feel that way, enough to take their own life. I’m slowly learning that it’s not all my fault.”

Seven disclosed that part of the interview was filmed nine months ago.

Thank you to @sundaynighton7 and @melissadoyle for sharing my story tonight and thank you for the support x

— Mel Greig (@MelGreigRadio) June 1, 2014

Sub-type: comment CAPTION: Thank you to @sundaynighton7 and @melissadoyle for sharing my story tonight and thank you for the support x— Mel Greig (@MelGreigRadio) June 1, 2014