Wild new claim about Jackie ‘O’ Henderson shows her fight with Kyle Sandilands is ‘far from over’ as she takes extended leave following on-air bust up

Jackie ‘O’ Henderson and Kyle Sandilands’ rift appears to be deepening with a wild claim that the radio queen may not ever return to her popular KIIS FM show.

Henderson, 51, took a leave of absence last week following a fiery on-air clash with Sandilands, 54, over an apparent lack of focus in her work.

 The radio star, 50, broke down in tears on Friday, February 20, when Kyle slammed her ‘fixation’ with astrology and said it was affecting her work. 

The radio star was due back at work this week, but was absent from the mic on Monday, with Sandilands telling listeners his co-star would be away for another week. 

However, one entertainment insider has claimed there is still a ‘very dark cloud’ hanging over the long-standing duo.

Speaking on 3AW on Monday morning, entertainment journalist Peter Ford claimed that Henderson may not return.

‘Any future for Kyle and Jackie O as a radio duo – I’m told there’s a very, very long and very dark cloud hanging over the future,’ Ford said. 

‘In fact, a couple of people have said to me if it was a horse race, I wouldn’t be backing them for a win.

‘It’s a $200 million contract that could very likely be ripped up and binned. I’m told more than likely she won’t be coming back ever.’

Ford added that a crisis conference call was held on Friday between KIIS management and Henderson’s manager Gemma O’Neill (née Fordman), which did not go according to plan.    

‘There was a conference call that took place on Friday between Jackie O’s manager Gemma and radio executives,’ he said.

‘The bosses thought it was going to be pretty straightforward – they’re going to kiss and make up and be back on air today.’

However, Ford claimed the meeting took a different turn.

Ford also mentioned the fact that during his tirade Sandilands claimed that KIIS staff had reportedly raised Henderson’s ‘lack of focus’ with him personally, which he claimed ‘really upset her.’

With Henderson’s return to the airwaves still up in the air, Ford also added that there are those in the industry who would like to see the partnership end. 

‘A number of very high-profile women have contacted Jackie O and said: “Don’t go back, take a stand,”‘ he said.

‘Kyle has been told to stay out of it. They will try and fix it. Well, so far they haven’t. It seems to me it’s very unlikely they will.

Ford continued: ‘There’s even an element of people in the radio network who don’t want it resolved because they know that this $200 million contract is so insane that the network will never make a profit on that.’

Sandilands expressed his ‘regret’ over the fiery on-air clash that left Jackie in tears.

An emotional Henderson said she was deeply ‘offended’ by his brutal comments during the clash.

Last Wednesday, Sandilands admitted he wished he had handled things differently.

‘I obviously upset her. Maybe, in hindsight, I shouldn’t have said it on the air. But we say a lot of things on the air here,’ he said.

‘It was never meant to hurt her feelings and obviously it did. I regret hurting her feelings. No one wants to hurt someone. Especially someone you care for. 

‘I don’t really know. The show is just ploughing ahead anyway. I’m just leaving this up to management,’ he added. 

Sandilands went on to say he just wanted to be back on the air with everyone happy, adding: ‘I want her to be happy and enjoy it. I also want the same thing.’

He then joked he didn’t care if any of the other producers or staff members were happy because he would ‘swap them all out in a heartbeat’ for his co-star.

Daily Mail has reached out to representatives for Jackie O Henderson and The Kyle & Jackie O show for comment.