By Jimmy Briggs For Daily Mail Australia
02:53 25 Jun 2023, updated 02:53 25 Jun 2023
Matt Doran returned from personal leave to host Weekend Sunrise on Sunday, almost two weeks after vanishing while reporting on the Singleton bus crash.
The veteran crime reporter, 40, was in good spirits as he co-hosted the breakfast show with Monique Wright, 50.
The Melbourne native cut a dashing figure in a tailored suit and slicked-back hair, looking refreshed and ready to tackle the day’s news stories.
Neither Matt or Monique commented on his Hunter Valley vanishing act or subsequent personal leave during Sunday’s show.
Doran took unscheduled personal leave last week after sparking a frantic police search when he failed to turn up to work the Tuesday prior.
According to The Daily Telegraph, Doran was ‘at home prioritising his health’ after he vanished while on assignment in the Hunter Valley, was was temporarily replaced by newsman Michael Usher on Weekend Sunrise.
The high-profile Sydney journalist was reported as missing after he didn’t show up for his 5.30am shift to cover the Hunter Valley wedding bus crash live from the area.
After a desperate police search, including at his Singleton hotel, officers found the star reporter a short time later in a local café.
Earlier, locals had seen Doran driving away from the home of newly married couple Mitchell Gaffney and Maddy Edsell, whose wedding was at the centre of the tragedy.
One eyewitness remembers the surprising way he spoke to members of the Singleton Roosters football team, for whom several wedding guests played.
‘He seemed distracted when he was interviewing. He didn’t want to be there,’ the source told Daily Mail Australia.
When the star reporter failed to answer calls, texts and emails ahead of his scheduled appearance on Sunrise, a producer went to find him at his Singleton hotel, only for knocks on his door to go unanswered.
Insiders have suggested several factors could have contributed to his troubling behaviour, with one stating Doran may have struggled with the confronting nature of the wedding bus crash tragedy.