On the morning of Kyle & Jackie O [Henderson]’s last show on KIIS 106.5 Sydney, Australia (and its Melbourne sister), there was a caller who was referring to what sounded like an earlier rant from Kyle. “Jackie lets you do your thing because she loves and respects you.” That was at 7:07.
There was a stray comment later on from Kyle about “getting up early for 30 years now.” At some point, he accused Jackie of giving him her cough. It was no big deal for her to have a mild cold, he said, “but I’m morbidly obese.” There was a lengthy celebrity birthdays segment that included Kurt Cobain and Cruz Beckham. (“Is he the one still talking to his parents?”) There was a $10,000 Pop Quiz contestant who only got one correct answer.
Around 8 a.m., Australian comedian Jim Jeffries was on to promote an upcoming tour. “If you listened to this show since it started this morning, you know it’s been a wobbly one,” said Kyle. The team members agreed.
At some point, a (flattering) bit about Jeffries’ wife led him to ask Jackie why she didn’t have a steady relationship. “Are you just a nightmare to live with?” he quipped. Jackie allowed that she gravitated to emotionally unavailable men. Now, she said, she was taking a break from relationships. She was into star mapping instead. She asked Jeffries for his exact time of birth to do a horoscope.
Later, the conversation turned to the just-arrested Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. There was surprise expressed at the Epstein Files’ revelations that the former Prince Andrew had abused his position as a trade envoy, particularly that he had any secrets to share in the first place. “I thought his job was just being pompous and walking around,” said Kyle.
At 8:40, Andrew came up again. Jackie began talking about his astrological profile, suggesting that it could indicate a “propensity for incarceration.” Kyle accused her of talking too much about astrology “at the detriment of everything else.” Eight minutes later, Jackie O suggested that if Kyle really felt she was doing a bad job on the air, “then you get someone else instead of me.”
That was Feb. 20. On March 3, it was reported that Jackie wouldn’t be returning to the show. KIIS owner ARN also announced that Sandilands’ comments to be in breach of contract and suspended him for 14 days. (It speaks to the magnitude of the story that ARN made the announcement to the local stock exchange.) Sarah Patterson of Australia’s Radio Today reports the details here. Audio of the argument itself—the sort that often happens off-air at 10:03 a.m., but rarely on-air—was posted by the Daily Telegraph.
The first time Kyle & Jackie O were covered in ROR was in a 2023 article called “Secrets of a 15-Share Morning Show,” tied to a planned appearance by then-ARN content director Duncan Campbell at an upcoming Radiodays North America conference. At that moment, the duo had just set a market record for monthly cume and had a 15.1 share in Sydney; (it had recently been as high as a 15.9).
In 2024, the team were syndicated to mornings at Melbourne’s KIIS 101. There were, at the outset, expectations that the move would blow a Howard Stern-style hole in any notion of localism mattering. But Kyle & Jackie O never gained traction in Melbourne. Instead, the team were regularly beaten by CHR Nova 100 and Jase & Lauren, the former KIIS show that Kyle & Jackie O displaced. (In the first days of syndication, KIIS had apparently tried to troll the rival show, sending a station van to one of their events.)
In retrospect, it was observed through the industry that the show had leaned too heavily on R-rated content as it tried to get Melbourne’s attention. “A damp squib? Or just poor-quality smut?” asked James Cridland in his Radioland newsletter after the initial ratings. Cridland has remained a critic of the team, repeatedly asking how they can possibly be in compliance with any Australian radio code.
In the final radio ratings of 2025, KIIS Sydney went 12.5-12.7 in mornings, making it No. 2 to N/T powerhouse 2GB. Soft AC Smooth FM, expected to benefit further from a breakup, was up to a 10.1. In Melbourne, KIIS was off 5.5-5.0, trailing, among others, N/T 3AW, Gold FM’s Christian O’Connell (now syndicated to other ARN Classic Hits stations), and Jase & Lauren.
Because Kyle & Jackie O both benefited from and fostered an environment where Australian radio hosts are still consumer press celebrities, both the Radio Today and Daily Telegraph postings have ample comments speculating about the future of Sydney and Melbourne radio. In a follow-up story, Radio Today publisher Steve Ahern plays out some of those scenarios. (Ahern declares that “there is no possibility of a reunion,” but I’m too stunt conscious to take the question mark out of this story’s headline.)
On Thursday, there was also a follow-up story from Patterson on “What the Kyle & Jackie O Show Collapse Says About Workplace Culture.” On Friday, Henderson issued her own statement, in response to ARN’s stock exchange notification, that she wanted to be clear about not having resigned, but could not comment further. Last Sunday, Cridland weighed in again with this excellent analysis, including asking whether KIIS, a station that launched to accommodate Kyle & Jackie O, will need to change formats again.
Several Facebook friends also contributed to a story that Patterson wrote about the American reaction to the breakup. (I believe it to be a small group that pays enough attention to international radio, so if you’re reading this, congratulations.) You can see their comments, and some of mine, here. One difference in our POV vs. theirs is that some readers share my skepticism that this breakup is forever. And earlier this week, Sandilands released his own statement saying that he doesn’t want to be off the air, either.
