Go easy on him! Journalist who botched Adele interview by admitting he hadn’t heard new album is ‘mortified’

An Australian journalist has been left feeling “mortified” after committing an interview no-no that ultimately led to his TV station losing its Adele interview.

Matt Doran from Channel Seven made the 10,000 mile trip from Sydney to London on November 4 to interview Adele about her upcoming album 30 - only to admit to the hitmaker that he hadn’t actually listened to her album ahead of talking to her about it.

As you can imagine, this confession apparently went down like a lead balloon with the Easy On Me singer who was reportedly offended by this.

Adele had reportedly asked what he thought of her new album after the Weekend Sunrise host hadn’t asked any questions about it, The Daily Telegraph reported.

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Despite the 30-minute interview being filmed, Adele’s label Sony has reportedly denied Channel Seven permission to air it. This is a big blow for Channel Seven since they had been the only outlet in Australia to get a sit-down interview with the star and it was said to be part of a package deal costing £539,065 (nearly $1m AUD) which also gave the network right to CBC TV special Adele: One Night Only.

As a result there has been backlash from Adele fans, music lovers and fellow journalists over Doran’s error.

Others saw the funny side to the situation, with some comparing Doran’s interview to the improvised press junket interview in rom-com film Notting Hill where Hugh Grant’s character William Thacker has to do to talk to actress Anna Scott (Julia Roberts), where he pretends to be from magazine The Horse and Hound and has no idea what Scott’s movie is about.

Doran has since apologised for his gaffe and explained to The Australian newspaper that he was “mortified and unequivocally apologetic” and hadn’t realised a link to the album was attached to the email he received about the interview beforehand.

“I have since discovered it was sent to me as an ‘e card’ link, which I somehow missed upon landing in London. “It was an oversight but not a deliberate snub,” he told The Australian newspaper. “This is the most important email I have ever missed.”

The TV shot also disputed claims that Adele stopped the interview after he made the blunder, telling the publication: “Adele didn’t storm out. In fact, it was the polar opposite. What was meant to be 20 minutes was extended to 29 minutes.”

Although Doran was not on air for a weekend, he has denied reports that he was “formally” suspended by Channel Seven over his mistake.

On top of all this, Doran isn’t the only Matt Doran who has been received flack over his inaction.

In an unfortunate coincidence, an ABC political reporter who goes by the same name has been flooded with critical tweets from people mistaking him for the Weekend Sunrise host.

Though he appeared to take the confusion all in good stride, and joking tweeted an apt Adele lyric: “Go easy on me...”

But not everyone got the joke...

Indy100 has contacted Channel Seven, Sony and Adele for comment.