Mike Munro reveals he suffered beatings at the hands of his closet alcoholic mother as a child

Mike Munro has revealed that he suffered at the hands of his violent, alcoholic mother as a child. 

The legendary journalist told this week’s Stellar Magazine that his mother Beryl, who died at the age of 58, was a closet alcoholic. 

The 66-year-old said: ‘I couldn’t work out why she’d go into the bathroom and come out and hit me. In those days the brandy were half bottles.

‘They were hidden in the dirty clothes basket, which I then started to pour down the sink… and I got beaten up even more.’

He added that ‘Mum was drunk most nights’ leaving him to do as he pleased from the age of five. 

‘Sober, she was a good person. I knew the difference between her Jekyll and Hyde, that when she’d been drinking to look out,’ the journalist added. 

In 2017, Mike told Mosman Daily that he considered ‘ending it all’ because the violence was so bad.   

‘Growing up in a monastery with a tragic alcoholic mum I often fantasised about just bailing out. The violence was too much from four years of age,’ he said. 

‘I often thought about ending it all,’ he concluded candidly. 

Mike added of the beatings: ‘The belts became belt buckles and the iron cords became ironing cord plugs.’ 

The 60 minutes host is a veteran current affairs reporter and presenter who has a wealth of experience after beginning his television career more than 35 years ago. 

Mike’s glittering career as a high-profile journalist and presenter has seen him work afor Nine, Ten and Seven networks, appearing on A Current Affair, Willesee, National Nine News, Missing Persons Unit, Ten Eyewitness News Weekend and Sunday Night.