Prank radio hosts to break silence in Australia

SYDNEY: The two presenters who made a prank call to a London hospital treating Prince William's wife Kate are set to break their silence Monday in a "raw and emotional" interview with Australian television.

Mel Greig and Michael Christian, from Sydney radio station 2Day FM, have been in hiding and undergoing counselling since their hoax sparked global outrage following the death of the nurse who fielded their call.

Australia's Nine Network said it would air an interview with the pair at 6:30 pm (0730 GMT) on its news discussion programme "A Current Affair".

"First interview with the #2dayfm djs just recorded with @TracyGrimshaw. It's raw & emotional. The full uncut interview at 6.30 tonight," the network said on Twitter.

Host Grimshaw added: "Let me say clearly that our interview with the 2Day FM hosts for tonight's A Current Affair was NOT paid for. Neither asked nor offered."

Commercial rival the Seven Network said it had also interviewed Greig and Christian and would broadcast its piece at the same time.

"On #TodayTonight at 6:30. #2DayFM pranksters tell all on the Royal hoax that went horribly wrong & how their lives have changed forever," Seven tweeted.

The hoax call, with Greig and Christian posing as Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles, was taken by mother-of-two Jacintha Saldanha, 46, at London's King Edward VII Hospital.

With no receptionist on duty early in the morning, she put them through to a colleague who divulged details of the pregnant Kate's recovery from severe morning sickness.

Indian-born Saldanha was subsequently found dead, believed to have taken her own life, although British police have refused to confirm that ahead of an inquest.

The nurse's death has sparked uproar in the British media and online, with some accusing the Australian hosts of having blood on their hands.

The station's owners have vowed to cooperate with any investigations, but said that nobody could have reasonably foreseen the consequences of what the hospital says was an "appalling" hoax.