Australian TV reporter who famously had Adele walk out on him mid-interview sparks police search

An ’emotionally stressed’ Australian TV reporter who had Adele walk over to him during a disastrous interview sparked a frantic police search after he failed to show up for work while covering the horrific wedding bus crash that left 10 guests died.

Matt Doran reported on Monday about the bus accident – Australia’s deadliest road accident in nearly 30 years – in the Hunter Valley region, north of Sydney, but did not show up for his shoot on Tuesday morning.

The 40-year-old presenter, who made headlines around the world in 2021 after Adele stormed out of his interview after admitting he hadn’t heard her new album, was nowhere to be seen.

His producer had knocked on his door at the Singleton Hotel in the town of Greta, but there was no answer. And after desperate colleagues couldn’t reach Doran on his phone, they called the police who launched a frantic search for the star.

His wife, Kendall Bora, producer of the Today show, quickly left work and set out to find Doran, who was later found in a nearby cafe and replaced on-air by his colleague. He has since personally parted ways with the network.

The crime reporter, who has a history of personal trouble, had traveled to the Hunter Valley region to cover the horrific bus crash at Sunday’s wedding, which killed 10 guests and injured 25.

The vehicle had flipped over and crashed in foggy conditions while transporting the 35 wedding guests to their accommodation in the town of Singleton after spending Sunday at Madeleine Edsell and Mitchell Gaffney’s wedding at the picturesque Wandin Valley Estate.

Emergency services were called to the scene around 11:30 p.m. on Sunday and found 10 bodies in the mangled wreckage alongside 25 injured guests, one of whom is in critical condition.

The day after the crash, Doran reported from Gretna and was last seen speaking to people in Singleton at a local football ground. And earlier on Monday, locals had seen him drive away from the home of the soon-to-be married Edsell and Gaffney.

Local residents said Doran seemed “distracted” when he interviewed members of the Singleton Roosters football team, for whom several wedding guests played.

“He didn’t want to be there,” a source told Daily Mail Australia.

And on Tuesday, the star reporter failed to return calls, texts or emails from his colleagues ahead of his scheduled appearance on Channel Seven’s Sunrise show and a police manhunt was launched. Doran was found by officers in a café ‘a short time later’.

Channel Seven has yet to make a statement on Doran’s well-being; however, insiders say several factors may have contributed to his troubling behavior.

One suggested that Doran may have been struggling with the confrontational nature of the bus crash tragedy, in which bus driver Brett Andrew Button, 58, was arrested and charged with multiple counts of dangerous and negligent driving.

Doran and his wife Bora are said to have spent the weekend at their $1.75 million holiday home in Berowra Waters, north of Sydney. one of the first reporters at the scene of the crash on Monday morning.

His live report to Channel Seven’s studios in Sydney was about 1 kilometer from the crash site where the 10 wedding guests died.

“One wonders if a job like that might be too much for someone prone to emotional stress,” a Seven insider told the Daily Mail Australia.

“It would traumatize anyone, but especially someone who is particularly sensitive or struggling.”

On top of that, Doran was – until recently – touted as a possible replacement for retired Sunrise presenter David Koch. The role instead went to Matt Shirvington.

Doran was assigned to cover the bus crash the same day Shirvington made his debut as a Sunrise anchor alongside Natalie Barr.

Radio host Kyle Sandilands speculated that Doran had struggled to be knocked out amid the fallout from his infamous Adele interview in late 2021.

Adele walked out of the interview in a rage after Doran admitted he hadn’t listened to her new album ’30’.

Doran reportedly sat down with the British singer for a ’20-30 minute’ interview, during which he ‘didn’t ask any questions about the new album’.

When asked by Adele what he thought of her 30 album, Doran allegedly admitted that he had not listened to it. An offended Adele then allegedly left the interview.

The interview, which reportedly cost the network $1 million, was never aired. Soon after, Doran was taken off the air for two weeks.

When he returned to Weekend Sunrise, Doran seemed devastated and offered a fawning apology to Adele, blaming the saga on a “missed email.”

During his speech, Doran said he had received a “deluge of abuse and ridicule from all over the world.”

“This is a story that has been sparked from all over the world, a deluge of abuse and ridicule from all over the world, and if I’m being honest with you, I deserve most of this brutality and own it in full,” began he.

“I flew to London to interview Adele, an unspeakable privilege and what would become one of the highlights of my career.

“I made the terrible mistake of assuming we wouldn’t get a preview of a copy of this album because our interview aired before it was released and Adele’s album was the industry’s most prized secret.”

Doran said he missed an email from Sony with a link to Adele’s new album, 30, saying it was the “most important email I’ve ever missed in my life.”

“The next day, after we landed in London, an email came in from Sony. There was no mention of Adele, but it did include a link to her album.

“The real, dead hand to heart truth is that I missed it. By an absurdly long margin, the most important email I’ve ever missed in my life.’

Doran said at the time, “To Adele, I say, I would never have knowingly disrespected you by deliberately not listening to your work. I’m so sorry.’

Doran, who began his career as a police reporter at the Herald Sun, joined Seven in 2017 after nearly eight years in the Network Ten newsroom.

Two years later, he was promoted to his current role as co-host of Weekend Sunrise, alongside Monique Wright, after intermittently replacing weekday host David Koch.

If you need help in Australia, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Anyone struggling with mental health issues in the UK can contact the Samaritans for confidential support on 116 123 or visit www.samaritans.org