Rebecca Maddern’s one regret about viral Novak outburst

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Speaking for the first time since footage of her unfiltered opinion about embattled tennis player Novak Djokovic leaked online, Rebecca Maddern reveals what really went down that day.

Speaking for the first time since hot mic footage of her unfiltered opinion about embattled tennis player Novak Djokovic leaked and went viral, newsreader Rebecca Maddern tells Stellar what really went down that day, explains why she bears no ill will toward his fans and names the one regret she has about the headline-making moment that brought her global infamy

What a way to debut. Were you hoping to have a quiet start to 2022?

I thought going back into a news role would mean I would fly under the radar a little bit and escape the headlines. But it seems I created my own within about four days of starting a new job. All unintentionally, obviously.

Can you recall the moment you found out that everyone knew your opinion on Novak Djokovic?

I didn’t obviously think about it that day at all. My husband and I were out for dinner and I was being a good wife, so I didn’t have my phone on. By the time I picked up my phone that night there were quite a lot of text messages and missed calls.

Being my age [Maddern is 44] and having parents who are getting on, you think the worst when there’s lots of missed calls. But after a little bit of investigating and a call to my boss, I worked out what had happened.

What were your immediate thoughts?

My initial reaction was I was really annoyed that a private conversation had been recorded. And then also, to make matters worse, publicly released without our knowledge and without our consent.

Were you nervous how this could affect your new job? You’d just started at Seven Network to take the weekend anchor role but at the time were filling in midweek.

Seven was extremely supportive from the very first conversation I had with the news director in Melbourne, Shaun Menegola. That would have been very different if Mike [Amor, her co-host] and I had said something on air.

But obviously we would never say something like that on air. It was made clear the circumstances surrounding it weren’t our fault. And I can’t emphasise that enough. You think about how many private conversations you’ve had, whether it be with colleagues or [at] home.

Now put yourself in our shoes, would you like that publicly released? The answer is no. I don’t regret having an opinion on the situation but I do perhaps regret the fruity language.

Do you feel violated about the footage being recorded and leaked?

That’s too strong a word. It’s really unfortunate that it happened. But social media is like bad Chinese whispers. It starts with someone. Someone forwards it on to someone. Someone forwards it on to someone else and then it ends up on social media.

I can understand the intrigue and the interest behind news readers being caught off-camera. If it wasn’t me and it was someone else, I would have watched it, too.

It went viral on social media, but the majority of the support was positive. How did that make you feel?

I’ll start answering that question by giving it a little bit of context. Mike and I are friends. We’ve been friends long before I returned to Seven. So we were basically just talking like we would be at the pub.

I’m 100 per cent sure that the exact same conversation was actually happening in a pub. And lounge rooms. And workplaces. Whether you agree with what I was saying or not is actually irrelevant.

Everybody was talking about this and so were we. My language was questionable, but hey, we’re Aussies.

You also made the US late-night talk-show circuit, with Jimmy Kimmel airing the footage. That’s got to be surreal.

It would have been very amusing for Americans to hear how Australians talk in the pub. I would have preferred to be on Jimmy Kimmel for breaking a worldwide exclusive story and being interviewed about that, but I’m a massive fan of his, so I’ll take it, I suppose.

How was the backlash from Djokovic’s fans?

Supporters of Novak should be passionate. I’m passionate about every single Geelong [AFL] player because I love them. I’m not cross with Novak Djokovic fans for being supportive of their hero.

Have you heard from Djokovic himself?

I probably will not be on Novak Djokovic’s Christmas card list. I have sat down and interviewed Novak before and he was a very pleasant guy. Granted, it was under good circumstances.

There’s no grudge between Novak and I. With the luxury of hindsight, it would have been really nice and straightforward for everybody if there was a no vax/no play policy at the Australian Open.

But there were loopholes in the policy and I don’t think you get to 20 grand slams without being a fighter. So he fought to play here. And so he probably should have. Mind you, I really think he has bigger issues on his plate than worrying about what was said off-air.

Does the positive support, and the uptick in ratings, change your opinion on how news is delivered?

In the past newsreaders have been criticised for being wooden or robotic; well, they certainly can’t criticise Mike and I for that anymore [laughs]!

I started my career as a news reporter in my 20s and since then I’ve had myriad jobs in this industry. I’m passionate about the news; it’s an antiquated notion that journalists or news presenters can’t or don’t have opinions.

We are human beings and part of the same community as everybody else. Just because I have an opinion on a topic doesn’t mean I can’t present or write about a topic without bias. It’s called training.

When I’m on air, I’m a professional and I don’t use that language. I’ll be presenting the news straighty 180 from now on.

The culprit who leaked the video has been sacked. How do you feel about that?

I was very happy that Seven immediately launched an investigation and pleased that the appropriate action was taken from the captioning company [Ai-Media] to make sure it doesn’t happen to anybody else in the industry.

After starting your career at Seven as a cadet journalist in your mid-20s, you moved across to the Nine Network to host, among other things, The Footy Show (AFL) and Australian Ninja Warrior. Why go back?

I’ve always loved news. That’s where I started my career. To be honest, I really loved working at Nine and didn’t see myself going back to Channel Seven.

But an offer came up to be an anchor and that’s an opportunity that doesn’t come up very often. You just have to look around the country and see how long the newsreaders have been in those positions. It was really good timing that the stars aligned.

Is there a plan to take on roles outside of news anchoring?

I never say never in this industry. You never know what is around the corner.

How do you see the rest of this year unfolding?

Hopefully, I’ll be out of the headlines! I’ll be just doing my job with my dear friend Mike and we’ll be having a very uneventful 2022.

I do have a feeling that there’s going to be some shocks and bumps along the way for everybody in 2022. But we just have to navigate this the best way we possibly can, and soldier on with what we’ve got.



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