‘The Amazing Race Australia’ connection for Kate Middleton ‘caller’ Mel Greig

If you life just about anywhere around the world at the moment, then you are probably familiar with the story at this point: two Australian radio DJs in Mel Greig and Michael Christian decided earlier this week to prank call the hospital that Kate Middleton was staying in following a bout of morning sickness; and lo and behold, they were able to obtain private information about the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge just by pretending to impersonate the Queen and Prince Charles.

On Friday, the news broke that the woman responsible for passing the call through in Jacintha Saldanha had taken her own life in an apparent suicide after being unable to deal with all of the negativity coming her way over revealing such private information, and as a result of this, Greig and Christian have gone completely off the grid. The radio station that they are employed by released a statement saying that they are “saddened” by their loss, and the two have made the mutual decision along with their employer to be suspended until further notice.

We were struck when we first heard the name Mel Greig come up in this, mostly because she should be familiar to any “Amazing Race” fan around the world: she and her sister Alana were contestants on the Australian version of the show back in 2011, and they lasted for five legs before finishing in seventh place. What was notable about the show then was that Mel came across often as abrasive, and had a difficult relationship with her she little sister, who felt like she could not really do anything to please her teammate. As bad as this show painted her at times, we are sure that Greig would much rather have her legacy be this rather than making a phone call that she probably thought to just be silly at the time, but one that had devastating consequences. It’s akin to a kid in school calling someone names: you think it’s funny until you find out what that said name did to the other person involved.

It’s ultimately going to be hard to look at the first season of “The Amazing Race Australia” again, but thankfully, the second season is still out there and is not attached to any sort of great tragedy. For those curious, Alana has yet to say anything about the incident publicly.

Photo: Channel 7