ABC weatherman Nate Byrne reveals on-air panic attacks

Popular ABC weatherman Nate Byrne is going public with a debilitating problem that’s repeatedly struck while he’s been live on-air.

Popular ABC weatherman Nate Byrne has today opened up about a private battle with anxiety, revealing that he has in the past suffered several debilitating panic attacks while live on-air.

And in a candid article penned for the ABC website, Byrne also shared footage from those moments so viewers could understand the experiences that nearly “broke” him as he wondered whether he’d be able to continue in the job he loves.

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Nate Byrne is opening up about a private battle.

Byrne revealed his first on-air panic attack occurred while reporting the weather live on-air during a 2018 episode of News Breakfast. Watching it back, the issue would have been near-imperceptible to viewers – but Byrne said the experience left him feeling “light headed and confused” and he was taken off-air for the rest of the day.

ABC News Breakfast host Michael Rowland then filled in on weather duties in his colleague’s absence:

Host Michael Rowland stepped in as Nate recovered.

Byrne was placed on beta blockers to control his anxiety, before slowly weaning himself off them, thinking he had the issue under control.

But then another on-air panic attack hit in 2020 – and this time Byrne’s difficulties were much more noticeable. Repeatedly pausing to catch his breath, he stumbled his words as he struggled to make it to the end of the weather report.

Watching on, his on-air News Breakfast colleague Lisa Millar later said she worried he might be having a stroke.

Byrne struggled through this 2020 report while experiencing a panic attack.

“Sitting a few metres from you I was struck that it now felt you were wading through mud, each word seeming to need so much effort,” she later told him.

Byrne said he still dealt with anxiety, but that talking about the issue and seeking treatment had made the problem more manageable – and also meant he was still able to do the job he loves each morning.

On-air anxiety common

Dr Benjamin Habib experienced an anxiety attack in a 2016 ABC appearance.

Byrne isn’t the person to appear on live television to deal with on-air anxiety – in fact, a guest on his very same show wrote an equally candid piece after suffering what he called “the worst public embarrassment of his career” in 2016.

Dr Benjamin Habib was booked to appear live on ABC News Breakfast as an expert guest on North Korea. Despite having extensive knowledge on the topic, he was wracked with anxiety and “did not sleep a single minute” the night before his appearance, which had to be abandoned quickly by the hosts.

“The interview was a disaster from the get-go as I melted down under the weight of anxiety. The experience was mortifying, the feeling afterwards devastating and the humiliation very public,” Dr Habib wrote in a reflection of the events published by news.com.au at the time. But he was also touched by the very real messages of support he received from viewers who were concerned for his wellbeing.

Dan Harris froze on US television in 2004.

The issue can affect even the most experienced TV personalities: US news anchor Dan Harris famously “freaked out in front of five million people” while reading the news on a 2004 episode of Good Morning America.

“I was overtaken by a massive, irresistible blast of fear. It felt like the world was ending. My heart was thumping. I was gasping for air. I had pretty much lost the ability to speak,” he later wrote of the experience.

“And all of it was compounded by the knowledge that my freak-out was being broadcast live on national television. Halfway through the six stories I was supposed to read, I simply bailed, squeaking out a ‘Back to you.’”

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