Kyle and Jackie O's "Intern Pete" has broken his silence after his question at Steve Smith's press conference on Thursday night night caused widespread outrage.
After Smith broke down in tears and apologised for his role in the ball tampering scandal, Peter Deppeler, who isa producer on the KIIS FM breakfast show, was called on to ask a question.
Saying he wanted to take a "change of tack", Deppeler said: "I want to let you know from the perspective [of the] non-sports community of Australians, to see you upset tonight is very sad.
"Mate I've got to tell you ... hold your head high for what you have done because what's actually been worse is what Davina and Dean did on Married At First Sight."
As a bewildered Smith watched tearfully on, the comment was quickly cut off by media handlers and fans reacted swiftly on social media with Deppeler being labelled the most hated man in Australia.
to the nob from Kyle & Jackie O who asked that ridiculous question, wait until you are utterly broken as a human being and think back to this moment.
That person, who I will not call a journalist, should be banned from ever going to a press conference again. I think it was from the @kyleandjackieo show - whoever you are, you are an idiot.
"To many, it held a lot more intensity than one would expect for a sporting incident. Steve was so upset which surprised everyone in the room and I just wanted to let him know that it truly wasn't the end of the world.
"It wasn't my intention to make light of his personal situation but to show him that the millions of Australians who aren't obsessed with cricket empathise with him. But timing is everything and, on reflection, it wasn't the best time to ask that."
Deppeler, who is referred to on the popular Sydney breakfast show as Intern Pete, told news.com.au that "this wasn't a setup stunt" and he wasn't instructed to ask the question by anyone at KIIS FM or any members of The Kyle and Jackie O Show.
"Heading to the airport I didn't actually realise it was going to be a press conference," he said.
"Along with many of the other media outlets, we were initially told he'd [Steve Smith] be walking through the airport and, along with all the other waiting journalists and reporters, I thought I may be able to call out a question to him as he walked through.
Peter Deppeler is no stranger to headline-grabbing stunts. Photo / News Corp Australia
"Coming from all the Australians who don't follow cricket and find it fascinating and even concerning that so much pressure has been placed on these players like Steve, I really did just want to inject a moment of light and warmth to what was such a serious situation. All week everyone had been acting like he was a criminal and I wanted to show him that many Australians don't think the world has ended because of this tampering incident."
The backlash to Deppeler's comment at the press conference was immediate and intense. As well as general disgust, many people on Twitter called for ARN (the company that owns KIIS FM) to sack him and he even received death threats.
An emotional Steve Smith confronts the media at Sydney International Airport. Photo / Getty
"Many Australians take their cricket very, very seriously, and others, not so much," Deppeler told news.com.au when asked about the reaction to his behaviour.
"From those who do take it seriously, I understand where they're coming from. For the rest of the country who don't follow the sport, I've received a lot of support as they can see the level of social media trolling that's been directed at me which, ironically, had all previously been directed at the three cricket players since it was revealed they'd cheated."
Kyle and Jackie O weren't on air this morning due to the Easter break but will no doubt address the controversy when they return to the airwaves on Tuesday morning.
