A bunch of Aussie radio stars have reacted to Jackie Henderson’s abrupt exit from her long-running Kyle & Jackie O Show after an on-air spat with Kyle Sandilands.
Henderson, who’d spent over two decades working with Sandilands, announced her resignation from the KIIS FM show on Tuesday on the grounds that she “cannot continue to work with” her co-host, according to a statement from parent company ARN Media.
A written notice was also issued to Sandilands for “an act of serious misconduct” and he was given 14 days to “remedy his breach” or “cease to present” the Kyle & Jackie O show.
Multiple radio stars have commented in the fallout, including Jase Hawkins and Lauren Phillips of the Jase & Lauren breakfast show on rival network, Nova.
While they didn’t directly address the situation, Hawkins did subtly mention “fighting” in this morning’s broadcast, in reference to the spat that led to Kyle & Jackie O’s collapse.
“Guys, today is not the day to have a fight,” Hawkins said as Phillips and co-host Clint Stanaway playfully argued over his recent day off. Hawkins quickly threw to an ad break after the comment, but his co-hosts were heard giggling.
Later on in the broadcast, Phillips also slyly mentioned “break-up season” while discussing sporting news, which — depending on how deeply you read into things — could be seen as a swipe at their radio rivals’ split.
If you recall, the Jase & Lauren breakfast show was replaced on KISS FM by the Kyle & Jackie O show back in 2023, after the latter co-hosts expanded their coverage to the Melbourne market.
They later moved to Nova, but that isn’t the only network that’s responded to news of Henderson and Sandilands’ split. Over on Triple M, Beau Ryan of the Beau, Cat & Woodsy breakfast show said his “thoughts go to the team” at KISS FM.
“I never like it when people lose their jobs,” Ryan, who previously worked as a KIIS FM contributor, said this morning. “I owe a lot to Jackie O. She gave me a start in breakfast radio, and I worked very closely with Kyle. I’m very good friends with both of them.”
Ryan also spared a thought for the “couple of dozen” people behind the scenes at the Kyle & Jackie O Show who will “walk into work not knowing what happens next”, before expressing what many others have thought since news of the show’s collapse.
“I don’t get the play of what’s happened,” he said. “It feels like there’s more to the story.”
KISS FM’s own host, Ken “Smallzy” Small, also addressed the situation while filling in for Sandilands and Henderson this morning. He read an ARN-issued statement explaining the change-up, but stressed he “not here to replace” the hosts and that the “show must go on”.
All of it stems from a February 20 broadcast in which Sandilands criticised Henderson’s “fixation” on star signs and claimed it had made her “unworkable”. The argument left Henderson in tears, and she soon took a week off to “gather her thoughts” before resigning on Tuesday.
Sandilands will remain off-air until he remedies the breached contract, while Henderson is expected to be offered a role elsewhere on the ARN network. Neither host has addressed the situation directly, but I imagine a bombshell statement is upon us. Watch this space.
Lead images: Triple M and KIIS FM
