TV presenter Helen Kapalos has given a scathing account of her infamous sacking from Channel Ten in 2012, calling the cull ‘undigified’ and ‘devestating’.
Speaking to The Herald Sun’s Sacked: Showbiz podcast this week, the 49-year-old revealed she was blindsided when she was suddenly axed from her regular news slot after working at Ten for six years.
Helen was fired just one day before she was due to fly to new York for a holiday.
‘It was quite devastating to be farewelled in that way’: Helen Kapalos, 49, (pictured) has described her 2012 sacking from Channel 10 as ‘undignified’ and ‘heavy-handed’
‘My news editor’s assistant actually grabbed me by the elbow and took me into this room. I thought, ‘This is a bit heavy handed’,’ Helen told the podcast.
Once in the meeting, Helen was informed by her news editor and HR manager that she wouldn’t be returning to screens again – not even to say goodbye to her loyal viewers.
Helen said the conversation ‘degenerated’ quickly after the Ten staffers refused to give a ‘solid’ reason for why she was being let go.
Sudden: Speaking to The Herald Sun’s Sacked: Showbiz podcast this week, the 49-year-old revealed she was blindsided when she was suddenly axed from her regular news slot after working at Ten for six years
‘I think what was disappointing for me was, it felt like a very undignified way to be treated after such hard work and loyal service,’ she lamented.
‘It was quite devastating to be farewelled in that way,’ Helen added.
Her axing, along with other presenters, was reportedly part of austerity measures introduced by Ten to improve ratings.
Less-than-amicable: Helen said the conversation ‘degenerated’ quickly after the Ten staffers refused to give a ‘solid’ reason for why she was being let go
In February 2013, Helen moved to Channel Seven where she became the face of Today Tonight.
It was in that year when Helen suffered an on-air gaffe that would make television history.
During the infamous segment, the anchor was left fumbling for a minute and a half after being left without a script or an autocue.
Gaffe: In 2013, the anchor was left fumbling for a minute and a half after being left without a script or an autocue while presenting Today Tonight on Seven
Helen made a valiant effort to fill in the awkward silences, while awkwardly shuffling papers and smiling repeatedly into the camera.
The video went viral on YouTube and attracted more than 990,000 views.
On Wednesday, Helen described the incident as ‘horrific’, telling the Herald Sun on that she had to undergo therapy to deal with the ‘shame and trauma’.
Faux pas: Helen made a valiant effort to fill in the awkward silences, while awkwardly shuffling papers and smiling repeatedly into the camera
‘I didn’t even want to be in the supermarket, or anything. I was absolutely devastated and really crippled,’ she told the publication.
Helen quit her role at Seven in March 2015 and went on to pour to pour thousands into a documentary about medical marijuana.
The presenter became passionate about the controversy surrounding cannabis oil after interviewing inoperable bowel cancer sufferer Dan Haslam, 25, from Tamworth as a two-part segment on Channel Seven’s Sunday Night in 2014.
‘I was absolutely devastated’: On Wednesday, Helen described the incident as ‘horrific’, telling the Herald Sun on that she had to undergo therapy to deal with the ‘shame and trauma’
Helen quit her job a month after Mr Haslam died in February 2015 and took out an $80,000 loan to document the ‘truth about medicinal marijuana’.
She said she is still paying off the loan and there have been times she was forced to use ’20 cent coins to buy groceries,’ the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
On the program, Ms Haslam spoke about illegally sourcing cannabis oil on the black market to provide some relief from his terminal bowel cancer.
New project: Helen quit her role at Seven in March 2015 and went on to pour to pour thousands into a documentary about medical marijuana
The 25-year-old had more than 40 tumours on his liver and struggled to bounce back from his debilitating treatment.
He died in February 2015, and his mother Lucy said the marijuana managed his nausea, appetite and vomiting in his final months.
Helen was passionate to raise awareness for other Australian cancer sufferers in need of relief.
Passionate: Helen became passionate about the controversy surrounding cannabis oil after interviewing inoperable bowel cancer sufferer Dan Haslam, 25, (both pictured) from Tamworth
‘I did a crazy thing – I went to the bank and told them I was renovating my kitchen and they gave me an $80,000 redraw,’ Helen told Daily Mail Australia in June.
‘It might have seemed a bit foolish but I just got cracking.’
Her documentary ‘A Life Of Its Own – The truth about medical marijuana’, which premiered on June 18, looked at the largest human trials of medical marijuana in the world.
Finances: Helen (centre) quit her job a month after Mr Haslam (left) died in February 2015 and took out an $80,000 loan to document the ‘truth about medicinal marijuana’
‘Sometimes you don’t recognise what an opportunity looks like until down the track,’ Helen said.
Cannabis oil is legal in Israel, Spain and several states across the US. In Australia, only Victoria has made medical cannabis legal for patients in exceptional circumstances.
The Victorian Parliament passed legislation to allow locally manufactured products available for patients from early 2017.
New beginnings: Helen quit her job a month after Mr Haslam (pictured) died in February 2015
Mr Haslam’s mother worked with Kapalos on the documentary in a bid to ‘educate and dispel the many myths surrounding medicinal cannabis.’
‘I will continue working with NSW premier Mike Baird and will diligently work in the cross party parliamentary drug law reform group in Canberra,’ she told Daily Mail Australia in June 2014.
Kapalos’s mother Joanna died from cancer at 56 and the former TV presenter also had her own brush with the disease after a scan revealed a large tumour in 2013, according to Daily Life.
The tennis ball-sized tumour was removed a few months later and she was given the clean bill of health.
Legal: Cannabis oil is legal in Israel, Spain and several states across the US. In Australia, only Victoria has made medical cannabis legal for patients in exceptional circumstances. Mr Haslam is pictured