Darren McDonald

Darren McDonald is an Australian news anchor known for his work on Australia's Seven Network and New Zealand's TV3.

News reading

He was one of Australia's youngest news anchors, first presenting at age 17. He went on to read the news on 11am, and then became the first anchor of Sunrise News when it launched to cover the first Gulf War. He later worked at National Nine News, however his involvement with Network Ten show 'Sex/Life' saw the end of his Australian television career after a distasteful segment which saw him simulate masturbation.

He later became a news reader in New Zealand at TV3 in the late 1990s.

Drugs issues

At the beginning of 2002 after the police had arrested a lot of people for importing MDMA into New Zealand,and selling methamphetamine, Darren McDonald was arrested. In 2003, he pled guilty to drugs charges relating to MDMA (Ecstasy). He admitted being a drug addict for a number of years, saying he'd spend around $1000 on drugs each week, and that he had even read the news while high on methamphetamine.

References

• TVNZ Article
• Sydney Morning Herald article