Michael Christian is an Australian radio presenter. Along with his co-host Mel Greig, he made a

prank call A prank call (also known as a crank call, a hoax call, or a goof call) is a telephone call intended by the caller as a practical joke played on the person answering. It is often a type of nuisance call and can be illegal under certain circumsta ...

to the hospital caring for

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge Catherine, Princess of Wales (born Catherine Elizabeth Middleton; 9 January 1982), is a member of the British royal family. She is married to William, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the British throne. Born in Reading, Berkshire, Readi ...

that led to the suicide of one of the nurses.

Career

In February 2006, Christian started his radio career at Sea FM Central Coast, after completing a Graduate Diploma in Commercial Radio Broadcasting at the Australian Film, Television & Radio School. He later moved on to become a morning announcer at 92.9 Perth. On 5 October 2009, Christian started a position as the afternoons announcer at Austereo's Fox FM in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

before moving to mornings. He moved to Sydney's

2Day FM 2Day FM (call sign 2DAY) is a commercial FM radio station broadcasting in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on a frequency of 104.1 MHz, and is part of Southern Cross Austereo's Hit Network. History 1980s 2Day FM was one of three radio st ...

in December 2012 to host the ''

Hot30 Countdown The ''Hot30 Countdown'' was an Australian radio show hosted by Mike Christian (MC) and Mel Greig. It was broadcast on the Today Network from the studios of 2Day FM in Sydney, New South Wales to every state and the Australian Capital Territo ...

'' with Mel Greig, a

nationally syndicated Broadcast syndication is the practice of content owners leasing the right to broadcast their content to other television stations or radio stations, without having an official broadcast network to air it on. It is common in the United States whe ...

program. In 2015, Christian returned to

as an announcer.

Royal prank

On 6 December 2012, Christian and his

radio co-host, Mel Greig, made a radio prank call to the hospital that was caring for Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, during her first pregnancy. The duo tricked the hospital into releasing private medical information on the Duchess by using "ridiculous comedy accents" to mimic Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

and the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

in an attempt to talk with the Duchess. Two days later Jacintha Saldanha, one of the nurses who was tricked by the pair, was found dead in a suspected suicide. Both Christian and Greig were seen on their Twitter accounts boasting about the prank a day earlier, calling it "the easiest prank call ever made." They were both suspended from broadcasting following the death. In an interview on the Nine Network's ''

A Current Affair ''A Current Affair'' may refer to: * ''A Current Affair'' (Australian TV program), 1971–present Australian current affairs program that airs on Nine Network * ''A Current Affair'' (American TV program), a 1986–1998 American television news ...

'' program, Christian said that "We are shattered, heartbroken and our deepest sympathy goes to the family, friends and all those people affected. Mel and myself are incredibly sorry for the situation and what's happened." On 27 January 2013, 2Day FM's parent company announced on its Facebook page that the Hot 30 show responsible for the prank would not be returning. Christian returned to the Melbourne Fox FM morning program on 11 February 2013, and his move there created controversy. On Sunday 28 April 2013 ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' newspaper in the United Kingdom reported Saldanha had authored a suicide note blaming Christian and Greig. She also asked that they be made responsible for her mortgage. In June 2013, Southern Cross Austereo awarded Christian the ''Next Top Jock'' award, a decision that was criticised in the Australian media. Australian National Communications Minister

Stephen Conroy Stephen or Steven is an English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is widely regarded as the firs ...

told a Melbourne radio station "I think there’s a bit of bad taste involved there. There were some very serious consequences of what was a prank and to be seen to be rewarding people so soon after such an event, I think, is just in bad taste."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Christian, Mike Australian radio personalities Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Shock jocks