It’s not out of the ordinary for a friend to call in for a chat once the drinks have started flowing – however it is a little unusual when the friend is the premier of NSW.
Erin Molan can vouch that she did indeed make contact with Gladys Berejiklian, during a night out on the town.
While speaking on 2Day FM’s Morning Crew with Hughesy, Ed and Erin, Molan admitted she was with Nine colleagues Belinda Russell and Lizzie Pearl when Berejiklian’s name came up in conversation.
“It might have been, say, 11pm, potentially midnight, 1 am — I’m not quite sure,” the well-connected journalist recalled to the NSW premier who joined in on the radio program.
“We were talking about how well you’ve handled the pandemic, and how we all look up to you.
“I said to the girls, ‘Well, Gladys and I are basically best friends, do you want me to call her and I’ll tell her how we all feel?'”
Molan clarified that she and Berejiklian had become well acquainted with each other after bonding over their shared experience of working in male-dominated industries.
“I might have used a bit of creative license and talked up our friendship, slightly more than what it was, but I feel like we could then grow into that role,” she said.
Molan did however end up calling the politician, revealing the phone was not picked up.
“So, the premier of the state didn’t answer, nor has she returned my call since. So I just wanted to check the status of our friendship, Gladys,” she continued.
A clearly amused Berejiklian verified the radio host’s “version of events”, saying she thought she’d texted Molan back.
“If I didn’t, I apologise — in my head I did,” she said.
“Can I be honest? I did have a missed call from midnight, and do you know what I thought, Erin? I thought you’d pocket-dialled me … I thought, ‘Maybe she’s looking after [daughter] Eliza or doing something’.”
This article originally appeared on Over60.