Family is my everything

She is Seven’s secret sporting weapon, the woman who can cover any game without missing a beat. But without the support of her family, says Mel McLaughlin, her career may never have happened.

- TIFFANY DUNK

The Weekly set is a hive of activity. Coffee is being dispensed to the roomful of cast and crew, a welcome pleasure after an early morning start. A rack of clothes whizzes past, stuffed with outfits in various creams and neutrals, the stylists pulling out pieces to be steamed.

Voices are necessarily raised in order to be heard over the cacophony of hair dryers as Mel McLaughlin, her mother and sister attempt to continue their conversation whilst make-up artists attend to their faces. Our photographer and her assistant are hunched over the monitor, discussing set-ups and lighting as a publicist fills me in on some last-minute updates on Mel’s work schedule for the Commonwealth Games.

For softly-spoken family patriarch Eamonn McLaughlin, it’s like entering a new world. “Is this what Mel has to do every day?” he asks in disbelief while taking in the organised chaos.

“No Dad,” Mel laughs in return. “This is not a normal day.”

Indeed for the 42-year-old sports reporter it’s about as far away from her usual routine as she could get.

Growing up the middle child of three girls – raised by an Anglo-Indian mother and English father – in western Sydney’s Quakers Hill, she’d never worn make-up. And when she got her first job in radio, the behind-the-scenes nature meant she didn’t feel the need to start. But after moving to an on-air role at Sky News some years later, it was a skill she had to master. Because far from being waited on by a talented entourage, it was all about DIY in the world of sports.