Kyle Sandilands sets tongues wagging about his future at KIIS FM as he holds meeting with new Nine radio owner Stu Laundy

Kyle Sandilands’ future at ARN will be decided by Tuesday – but it appears the shock jock is keeping his options open. 

Sandilands, whose tenure at The Kyle and Jackie O Show on KIIS FM hangs in the balance, took an intriguing meeting on Saturday.

The 54-year-old met with reality star and pub baron Stu Laundy, whose billionaire father Arthur Laundy recently snapped up Nine Entertainment’s radio stations as part of the Laundy family business. 

Adding further intrigue to the catch-up, which was held at Sandilands’ McMahons Point offices, the radio king was accompanied by his manager, Bruno Bouchet.

Laundy, who was carrying a notepad as he shook Sandilands’ hand, downplayed his attendance at the mystery chat by claiming that it was related to his NRL interests.   

‘I am just trying to get him into the Bulldogs family fold, I still think he has some playing years ahead of him,’ Laundy told The Daily Telegraph. 

Stu’s vested investment in the future of his family’s radio stake has led to whispers that Sandilands is eyeing a future on radio outside of the ARN family. 

Nine Entertainment sold its radio stations to billionaire pub baron Arthur Laundy back in January. 

Speculation had been rife in recent months about potential suitors for the stations, which include 2GB in Sydney, 3AW in Melbourne, 4BC in Brisbane and 6PR in Perth.

Arthur is one of the country’s richest men with a fortune estimated to be worth $1.75 billion, made through his network of pubs and hospitality venues grown over decades from his father’s first pub, the Sackville Hotel in Rozelle. 

His son, Stu, runs a large part of the business and found fame after his appearance on season three of The Bachelorette.

The purchase was a rare one for the Laundys outside the hospitality arena. 

ARN announced last month that Jackie ‘O’ Henderson’s $100 million contract had been terminated after she told executives she ‘cannot continue to work with Mr Kyle Sandilands’ following his harsh on-air comments that left her in tears. 

Meanwhile, ARN provided written notice to her co-host Sandilands stating it considers his behaviour during the show on February 20 to be ‘an act of serious misconduct which is in breach of ARN’s service agreement with Quasar Media’.

Sandilands has been suspended and given 14 days to ‘remedy’ the breach, or else he faces termination. 

That looming deadline is up on Tuesday. 

The radio titan is said to have called in lawyers and is ‘preparing to sue’ ARN should his $100 million contract be terminated following the collapse of the show last month.

Last Tuesday, Sandilands released his own statement, claiming he has been ‘muzzled’ by ARN, and barred from contacting Henderson or speaking with colleagues.

‘I want to speak directly to my listeners, my colleagues and the public about what has been happening,’ Sandilands began in his statement.

‘On 20 February, I had an argument with Jackie on air about something that had been bothering me for a while. I said things I wish I had said differently.’

Sandilands went on to say that he privately apologised to Henderson after the feud and deeply regretted hurting his long-time co-host’s feelings.

‘That same evening, I sent Jackie a message telling her I was sorry for anything I said that didn’t go down well, that I love her and care for her, and that I could have handled it better. I meant every word of that, and I still do,’ he continued.

‘Jackie and I have worked together for over 25 years. She is one of the most important people in my life. The idea that our partnership could end like this is devastating to me.’

The shock jock went on to claim ARN had imposed some strict conditions amid the fallout.

‘ARN told me that I am not allowed to contact Jackie. They have told me that I am not allowed to speak to my colleagues. I did what was asked even though it made it impossible for me to do the one thing anyone in my position would want to do – pick up the phone and talk to the person I have been talking with continually for my entire career,’ he explained.

‘The truth is that ARN terminated Jackie’s contract on the same day it accused me of a breach. It suspended me from work. All of this happened while I was being told to sit quietly and say nothing. That is not a genuine process.’

While acknowledging Henderson had told him she was hurt, he insisted they had always resolved disagreements privately.

‘I am not going to pretend that everything about this situation is simple. Jackie told me she was hurt, and I accept that. But we have had disagreements before and we have always worked through them. That is what partners do. We never needed lawyers or ASX announcements to sort things out. I believe we could have sorted this out too, if ARN had given us the chance.

‘I have a contract with ARN that runs until 2034. I am committed to that contract. Despite what ARN says, I am not in breach of that contract. I want to be on air. I want to be with my audience. I want to do the job I have done my entire adult life,’ he insisted.

‘I am asking ARN to do the right thing: honour our agreement and let me get back to doing what I do best – entertaining the people who have supported this show for more than two decades.’

He concluded: ‘To my listeners: Thank you. I miss you. I’ll be back.’ 

According to News.com.au, Henderson reached out to Sandilands last week amid reports he was feeling ‘betrayed’ by their employer.

After connecting, both Sandilands and Henderson apparently realised ARN had told them separately that the other party didn’t wish to be contacted.   

It comes after news that Sandilands has his eye on purchasing ARN if he’s sacked, according to an insider. 

As his future remains in limbo after Henderson’s departure from their top-rated radio show, Sandilands reportedly said he intends to buy up KIIS FM and the entirety of the Australian Radio Network, Sandilands’ former boss Craig Bruce claimed on Sunday. 

Bruce, who was previously program director at 2DayFM during Kyle and Jackie’s reign at the station, said in an Instagram post from his Game Changers Radio page that Sandilands made comments regarding a potential takeover of ARN during a recent taping of Australian Idol, where the radio star serves as a judge. 

‘Update. Kyle Sandilands will be back on the air on Wednesday, if he’s not sacked on Tuesday. And he reckons he’s going to get sacked on Tuesday,’ Bruce said.   

‘This is intel. I got a DM last night from a listener who was at the Idol auditions and so he said that to either a crowd of people or to a few people [that he] has a plan. 

‘If he’s sacked on Tuesday, he’s going to buy the network.’

Bruce added: ‘He’s either going to be on the radio on Wednesday… or he is sacked on Tuesday, that’s according to Kyle Sandilands himself. The plot thickens.’

It’s unclear if Sandilands made the comments seriously or in jest.  

ARN reportedly has fears that there here may be drama on Tuesday’s episode of Australian Idol. 

The Channel Seven reality series enters the finals on Sunday, which are aired live, and Tuesday’s episode will be broadcast just hours after the deadline for Sandilands’ two-week suspension passes.

With the situation unlikely to be resolved by the 5:30pm Tuesday deadline, there are reportedly concerns about how Sandilands might use the prime-time platform.   

According to News Corp, insiders have claimed that ARN executives have ‘begun to fret’ about what the notoriously boundary-pushing radio star might say about the ongoing saga during Tuesday night’s live Idol broadcast. 

Never one to shy away from pushing the envelope on-air, one radio insider said of Sandilands this week: ‘It’s his job to push the limits as far as he can go and for the censors to determine what is okay.’