EXCLUSIVE
Within moments of Andrew O’Keefe sliding onto the presenters’ couch for Weekend Sunrise’s biggest broadcast of the year, the show’s producers knew they had a problem.
There was something that didn’t fit with the long-time host.
At first, they were concerned about his strange hunch and his somewhat dazed and confused appearance.
Then he started talking.
His words were slurred, his comments erratic and off-key, and then there were the odd burst of spontaneous laughter.
It was Saturday 28 May 2017 and the country’s long-running number one breakfast news programme was covering the most anticipated event of the year.
Nearly 12 years after she was convicted of attempting to smuggle 4.2kg of cannabis into Bali, Schapelle Corby was returning to Australia.
Within moments of Andrew O’Keefe sliding into the presenters’ couch alongside “confused” co-host Angela Cox, the show’s producers knew they had a problem.
The country’s number one morning news programme had spent months planning every second of its comprehensive coverage as convicted Bali drug trafficker Schapelle Corby returned to Australia.
The show’s hard-working producers and crew had been planning every moment of the network’s comprehensive coverage for months.
Now it seemed their efforts were about to be overshadowed by the strange behaviour of the show’s star presenter.
At one point during the broadcast, O’Keefe’s co-host Angela Cox admitted that his random babbling was “confusing” even her.
He was later caught blatantly checking his mobile phone during a live segment with a Weekend Sunrise reporter.
It wasn’t long before Seven’s switchboard began filling up with calls from worried viewers: “Is AOK okay?”, “Is he having a stroke?”, “Does he seem ‘tired and emotional’?”, “Is he drunk on air?”
Daily Mail Australia was the first to notice the strange spectacle unfolding at Seven’s iconic Martin Place studios in Sydney.
But within minutes of posting a story about the star’s unusual antics at just after 8am, Seven’s army of spinners were in action.
There was absolutely nothing wrong with O’Keefe, they insisted.
I was simply overwhelmed by Corby’s dramatic comeback.
Behind the scenes, they knew better.
The high-profile star’s life was in free fall as he “self-medicated” with drugs and alcohol.
Asked about O’Keefe’s worrying appearance in 2017 this week, Seven insiders struggled to pinpoint the occasion.
Not because it was so trivial, but because it had become so disturbingly common that year.
“Mispronouncing words on air in 2017? At what point?” a senior source responded when asked about it by Daily Mail Australia.
Concerned viewers were concerned about O’Keefe’s unusual antics during the live broadcast.
Seven’s army of image consultants maintained O’Keefe was simply overwhelmed by Corby’s dramatic return and dismissed suggestions he was “tired and emotional” on air.
As the network scrambled to save face publicly — and to shield O’Keefe from suggestions that he was falling apart amid lurid industry-wide gossip about his wild parties — tensions were rising on set.
His colleagues were increasingly concerned about his well-being and questionable life choices. Seven’s news bosses wanted him out.
In December of that year, O’Keefe announced the inevitable.
After racking up a record 12 years as presenter of Weekend Sunrise, he was stepping down to spend more time with his “real family” – his wife, social worker Eleanor Campbell, and their three children, Barnaby, Rory and Olivia.
What he didn’t reveal was that the erratic behavior that hampered his career at Sunrise had also destroyed his relationship with his now ex-wife.
By that time, she had already abandoned him, along with her children.
Although O’Keefe would remain at Seven as host of its hit late-night game show The Chase Australia for three more years, his morning news days were over and the countdown to his time at the network had begun.
As she spiraled out of control from one scandal to the next, it seemed as if nothing could stop the terminal decline of one of the country’s most talented stars.
This week, he remains behind bars after nearly dying from a heroin overdose in his humble apartment in Sydney’s east end.
O’Keefe arrives at Rose Bay police station on Monday, where he was charged with drug possession following a shocking heroin overdose at his eastern suburbs apartment at the weekend.
Paramedics managed to revive the 52-year-old man before rushing him to St Vincent’s Hospital in nearby Darlinghurst in the early hours of Saturday morning.
After being released, he was arrested and charged with drug possession and bail jumping.
The embattled entertainer was not present in court when his case was heard on Tuesday and his lawyer did not apply for bail, meaning O’Keefe would remain in custody.
Judge Jacqueline Milledge’s message was blunt: “You are lucky to be alive… if you want to stay alive, (staying in jail) is the best thing you can do.”
“God help him, and it’s a shame he doesn’t have an epiphany.”
O’Keefe will have plenty of time to consider his tragic path over the next three weeks before returning to court once again on October 10.