Two Australian radio announcers who made a prank call to a British hospital treating Prince William's pregnant wife Kate have finally broken their three-day silence. During a television interview, they spoke of their distress at the death of the nurse who took their call.
Mel Greig and Michael Christian, the 2Day FM Sydney-based announcers, have been in hiding since nurse Jacintha Saldanha's death and the subsequent social media outrage at their prank.
On Monday, for the first time they spoke publicly about the prank in a televised interview with Australia's "A Current Affair." They said the decision to air the pre-recorded call was made by executives higher up the chain.
Mel Greig said, "It's not up to us to make that decision. We just record it and then it goes to the other departments to work it out. I don't know what they then do with it. We just do what we do, which is make those calls."
Michael Christian said, "There's a process that in place for prank calls or anything that makes it to air, that's out of our hands."
They also added that no one ever expected that they would actually be put through to the duchess' ward because of their heavy accents.
When talking about the death of the nurse, they both broke down in tears and apologized for the hoax.
Michael Christian said, "Shattered, gutted, heartbroken, and our deepest sympathies are with the family and the friends, of all those affected. Obviously Mel and myself are incredibly sorry for this situation and what's happened and we hope that they're doing okay and they're getting the love and support that they deserve and need right now. But I mean, personally I'm gutted."
Mel Greig said, "There's not a minute that goes by that we don't think about her family and what they must be going through. And the thought that we may have played a part in that is gut-wrenching."
The nurse Saldanha, 46, was found dead on Friday after putting the hoax call through to a colleague who unwittingly disclosed details of Kate's morning sickness to 2DayFM's presenters.
A recording of the call, broadcast repeatedly by the station, rapidly became an internet hit and was reprinted as a transcript in many newspapers.
But news of Saldanha's death sparked an Internet firestorm, with vitriolic comments towards the two DJs.
The 2Day parent company Southern Cross Austereo has received more than 1,000 complaints from Australians over the actions of the popular presenters, who have both been taken off air indefinitely.
