WITH her profile at an all-time high following the Chris Gayle controversy, Mel McLaughlin has leveraged a new TV deal and signed with Channel Seven.

Confidential can exclusively reveal the sports reporter will not return to Channel Ten after her contract expires at the end of March.

“Mel has done a great job at Network Ten and we wish her the best for the future,” a Ten spokeswoman said when contacted for comment.

media_camera Mel McLaughlin before the Big Bash game between the Sydney Thunder and the Melbourne Renegades. Picture Gregg Porteous media_camera Melanie McLaughlin. Picture: Richard Dobson

“We will be announcing an exciting new addition to our very talented and popular Big Bash League on-air team very soon.”

McLaughlin, 36, is understood to have signed with Seven to report on the upcoming Rio Olympics.

At the weekend the Sunday Telegraph revealed Channel 7 was chasing McLaughlin for its roster.

She will continue to work at Ten over the coming weeks until her contract ends.

McLaughlin previously covered sideline interviews for Ten’s Big Bash League over the summer and made headlines nationally for being on the receiving end of Chris Gayle’s controversial “Don’t blush, baby” comments.

“So hopefully we can win this game and we can have a drink after,” he said.

At the time, Gayle was fined $10,000 for inappropriate conduct.

Having started at Fox Sports, Ten signed McLaughlin in 2013 and she went on to cover the 204 Glasgow Games, as well as the Winter Olympics and FIFA World Cup that year.