Melissa Doyle hosted Sunrise alongside David Koch from 2002 to 2013, a gig that forced her to wake up at precisely 3.10am every weekday morning. Since then, Doyle has gone on to more body clock-friendly television jobs, including stints hosting Seven News Sydney and the current affairs program Sunday Night. Her next TV appearance is a more personal one – she’s exploring her family history as part of the SBS program Who Do You Think You Are?
During her tenure on breakfast TV, Doyle came to rely on her home coffee machine to get going every morning. While she now only has to wake up early two days a week – to host weekend breakfast on Smooth FM – the presenter still savours the daily ritual of making her own piccolo. Here, she tells us why she’ll never part with her machine, and shares the stories of two other important belongings.
What I’d save from my house in a fire
My very well-loved and slightly hairless teddy bear – a panda with the uncreative name of Pandy. My parents gave him to me on the day I was born. In my baby photos he’s pristine black-and-white and very fluffy. He’s far from that now, but has been with me all my life.
It’s funny what we get attached to as kids. He’d sleep in bed with me when I was little, but as I got older I remember moving him to my bedside table and then further away to my shelves. I must have thought I was so grown up! He’s now tucked up on the top shelf in my cupboard … a little older and wiser and looking very loved, but even more precious.
My most useful object
This one is easy: my Sunbeam Torino coffee machine.
After years of breakfast TV and now breakfast radio, my morning caffeine hit is as much for purpose as it is pleasure. I love the ritual of it. I have one of those big, fully manual machines with all the bells and whistles. I grind my own beans, always take a moment to inhale the aroma, then enjoy a piccolo – it’s like a half-size latte, sometimes with almond milk as I love the nutty flavour. Coffee is like wine – once you’ve tasted the good stuff it’s a struggle to go back!
Sitting outside with my coffee and my dog first thing in the morning is my happy place, my little moment of Zen. Even when it’s chilly. I’ve always been an early riser – although strictly speaking, breakfast TV actually had me rising in the middle of the night.
The item I most regret losing
When I got married and John and I bought our first unit, space was tight and I remember having a decluttering frenzy. So I got rid of a lot of clothes that were dated or I no longer wore. Among them was a long blue dress that was my paternal grandmother’s, which was probably from the 1950s. It was sleeveless with a fitted bodice and I assume she had sewn it herself. My grandmother was an elegant country lady. I can picture her wearing it with her gloves to dances. She still wore her hat and gloves to church into her 80s.
In my silly youth I assumed I’d never wear it – so I took it with a box of clothes to Vinnies. I would be unlikely to wear it today, but I wish I still had it to remember her. She was, and still is, my style icon – always tidy and immaculately dressed. She said what I wore was a sign of respect to whoever I was going to meet.
Melissa Doyle’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? premieres 11 June on SBS and SBS On Demand
