Mel McLaughlin Forgives Gayle, Would Like To Return To Her Job Now Thnx

“I’m a little bit uncomfortable, I’m not used to being the centre of any story.”

That’s how journalist Mel McLaughlin opened her appearance on The Project tonight, and it’s a statement that carries the same tone she’s brought to the whole Chris Gayle incident – and her career as a whole, really.

She told the panel that “no doubt there’s something to take out of this”, but she’s “always found that the attitudes are extremely positive, I’ve always felt respect on the sidelines… I love my job, and I’d much rather be talking about that.”

Moreover, McLaughlin said she’d taken Gayle’s apology on board, after he said “there wasn’t anything meant to be disrespectful or offensive to Mel… If she felt that way, I’m really sorry for that” earlier this afternoon.

“I accept that, and I just want to move on,” McLaughlin said. 

Move on, they did: Peter Helliar asked about the upcoming Big Bash League match-up between the Adelaide Strikers and Perth Scorchers. 

“Let’s talk cricket!” was the response. Natch. Alright, sounds good – cricket it is.

(If you’ll allow us to break thus pesky fourth wall for a sec, we have to say that the whole subject-reporter relationship that makes the whole media thing work only operates if there’s a mutual respect between both parties. Hell, at least an acknowledgement that an interviewer is just doing their job. Kudos on the whole sitch, Mel.)

Anyway, watch a consummate pro at work below:

We hear @Mel_Mclaughlin‘s response to the #ChrisGayle interview #TheProjectTV https://t.co/5u8fYHlpNZ

— #TheProjectTV (@theprojecttv) January 5, 2016

Story: Channel Ten. 
Video: Twitter.