Making babies equals making ratings for some on air mums. When asked by a caller after she announced her pregnancy on air this week, if she would take time off, 2Day’s Jackie O said, “I will be able to be back on-air more quickly because I can work from home for a while… (Austereo) can set up a studio for me.” But is it worth putting this part of your life on air? Former 2WS presenter Kayley Harris had three kids while hosting the breakfast show with Hans Torv in the 1990s, and with each baby, up went the ratings. Harris talks to radioinfo about the pros and cons of having babies on air.
Looking back on the whole pregnancy/birth thing on air, Kayley Harris, who is now The Wiggles’ publicist, says it was “a double edged sword.”
“Would I do it again? Not the same way. I would have preferred to have had the full 12 months off with each child but even in this day and age, I don’t believe that option is available to radio presenters.”
Kayley sent Jackie a ‘Wiggles Pack’ today as a gesture of support for the next ‘radio mum.’ Jackie’s feelings about staying on air and starting a family are expected to be published in details in an upcoming issue of a women’s magazine, but she gave some idea of how she feels in this chat on air yesterday:
Jackie: It’s been hard to keep it quiet for three months because obviously you can’t tell anyone until it’s the safe period and Lee and I wanted to wait.
Kyle: What does Lee think? Lee would be ecstatic.
Jackie O: Lee is so excited, he’s been wanting this for just as long as I have, it’s just great the whole pregnancy has been so exciting, even the bad stuff and I’ve had the bad stuff too including the morning sickness… I was so emotional and my moods swings were crazy… it must be the first three months where the hormones drive you crazy, honestly I was another person.
Chris (Caller): I’m so excited for you, I think it’s lovely news, but what happens for the show?
Kyle: Nothing, she sits here and does the show.
Jackie O: The great thing about doing radio in the morning Chris, is that it does allow you to work from home, so that’s a really good thing. They (Austereo) can set up a studio for me. The baby is due at a great time when we’re all on holidays (December).
Kyle: You timed it so perfectly, because you knew that there’s just no way you wouldn’t be able to not be here.
Jackie O: Well there might be a point where it’s like that, but I will be able to be back on-air more quickly because I can work from home for a while.
In a statement Austereo’s Sydney general manager Helen Davies says all at the company are thrilled for Jackie and her husband Lee. “We look forward to sharing this wonderful time in Jackie’s life, along with all of Jackie’s fans. Everyone at Austereo congratulates Jackie and Lee and we wish them every happiness.”
Between 1997 and 2001, Kayley Harris (pictured) had three children while she was on air and only took the minimum amount of time off after having each one, using a landline from her home to get back to air as soon as she could, in a similar way as Jackie plans to do.
“WS FM was, and still is, a family station and Hans and I very much promoted ourselves as a family breakfast show. With that in mind, it seemed natural that having shared my engagement and marriage with the audience, I would share the pregnancies as well.”
Her first baby, John, was born in November 1997 and Harris remembers:
“There was some hype around this one as he was my first and Wendy Harmer from 2DAY was pregnant as well. We were both due on the same day (Christmas Day 1997), at the same hospital. I ended up going early and the birth was filmed by Channel 10 for their daytime TV show, Family Circle TV. As you can imagine this put a fair bit of extra pressure on. For the following year, 1998, we had a weekly segment on FCTV covering the baby’s first 12 months. I had to spend a few hours filming each week plus appear with the baby on the show each Friday. Having said that, I have a lovely chronicle of John’s first 12 months because of FCTV.”
Harris was asked by WS FM management to come back to work early in 1998 in time for the start of survey in mid-January. She says, in hindsight, this wasn’t nearly enough time off.
“I was still breast-feeding, and I would take a breast pump to work and use it before the show (4.30am), during the 7am news and after the show (9.30am), just so I could keep the flow going to feed the baby. There was no suitable place to do this at work so I had to do it in the ladies toilet. It didn’t work out and I had to stop breast feeding earlier than I wanted to.”
The WS listeners “were wonderful” and sent many gifts which she still has, but the balancing act of just how much to reveal on air was important to get right, says Harris.
“I still occasionally hear from mums who were pregnant at the same time and experienced the same things with me in that first year. They told me how much they related to it. Hans and I were very careful not to overdo it and speak about the baby too much. I wanted to talk about it everyday obviously, but Hans wisely suggested we take it easy in case the audience suffered overkill.”
When her second son, Nicholas, was born in 1999, WS management suggested she do the show from home after the baby was born, to address the issues she had with John. Harris says she was initially against the idea “as I like to be 100% home OR 100% at work if you know what I mean,” but she agreed reluctantly and a studio was set up in her spare room at home.
“I think we lasted a week and because of the distractions, I was asked to come back into the studio. Again, I came back earlier than I wanted. I now had two babies under 2 at home and still doing the show. It was very tough on the nights when one of the kids was sick and I’d be up all night and still have to be at work the next day. At least I felt I had to be there. I was very tired.”
When Harris announced she was pregnant with Rachel in 2001, the show’s producer, Rebecca, was also pregnant with her first baby. “Bec was very much part of our show and the listeners loved hearing about her pregnancy as well. Rachel’s pregnancy and birth went off with a hitch, but I was back at work for the start of survey in January 2002.”
Regrets? Kayley Harris has a few.
“I would have loved to have fed my babies for a lot longer than the 2-3 months I had. Whilst WS management requested that I go back to work, it was my decision in the end. There’s a lot of insecurity around a job like that and I felt that pressure. It’s every broadcaster’s fear that you’ll be replaced by the person who fills in for you. I was also under financial pressure as there was no paid maternity leave...
“I find it hard to believe that a station that has everything invested in it’s highly rating breakfast show would want to then spend 12 months building the profile of another person in their absence, only to ditch the fill-in person after 12 months. They would want to constantly speak to the main presenter to keep their profile high in the interim. What’s the point of maternity leave if you have to keep reporting into the show? It’s a tough choice and a very personal one.”
But she says the kids do not seem any the worse for having their young lives shared by WS FM listeners.
“I’m happy to say that I have three beautiful children who are now 12, 10 and 8 and don’t appear to have suffered at all as a result of me going back to work so early. I was also fortunate enough to have a wonderful and supportive family around me who looked after the children in my absence.”
When Kayley left WS FM she spent some time off air before taking up presenting and producing roles at 2GB and mentoring students at AFTRS. She recently left 2GB to work full time with The Wiggles, one of Australia’s, and the world’s, most successful children’s entertainment groups.