Ali Clarke has hit back at claims by Adelaide’s Advertiser that Mix 102.3 has dramatically fallen in ratings due to various reasons including off-air drama.
In a story published over the weekend (subscription required), an article in the Advertiser made a number of claims, including
- The banter in the breakfast timeslot always has a good dose of drama thrown in – but it’s nothing compared to the upheaval that appears to be constantly happening behind-the-scenes.
- Mix reportedly began headhunting Ali Clarke in 2021, and the price must have been right because she decided to walk late last year.
- That Mix signed Eddie Bannon, a regular on her ABC brekky show, reportedly at her bidding, showing she had clout.
- The rumour is that Bannon won’t be back next year
In a statement that has been posted on Facebook, Clarke addressed these points and what she termed as a number of “falsehoods” in the Advertiser’s story.
Beginning with her reasons for leaving the ABC, Clarke opened up about the stress of hosting Adelaide’s top breakfast show, saying, “I was waking up at one or two in the morning panicking, I was anxious, I would end a shift shaking, sometimes I would go into work feeling like I was throwing up because I was so stressed and even worse, I was taking all of that home with me.”
She says among the reasons she moved to Mix, “…the most important part of it was that I would be working with an onair team, which meant that everything wouldn’t be on my shoulders, we could work together and have some fun.
“Yeah, I get paid more than I got there, but guess what, if this doesn’t work in the next 2 years and however many months, I be paid nothing, and I probably could’ve had a job for life at Auntie.”
Clarke told Bannon that he got the job on his own merit, and “…that for anyone to suggest anything other than that is an absolute lie. It is false and it is harmful and you deserve to be here.”
On the rumours that Bannon won’t be a part of the show next year, Clarke says the speculation was “…cheap and nasty. So let’s be clear, none of us have spoken about next year.
“There is no truth to it, none.”