Many jumped immediately on Jackie O‘s disagreement with Kyle Sandilands last Friday on their KIIS Network breakfast show as a publicity stunt, done ahead of the first survey result for 2026 with the ratings measurement period wrapping up this this Saturday February 28. But it isn’t. It wasn’t. Listening at the time it was incredibly uncomfortable and, to use a radio buzzword, genuinely authentic, but not in the way that networks normally aspire to.
After the ACRAs in 2023, Amanda Keller and Brendan ‘Jonesy’ Jones who also worked for ARN on breakfast in Sydney, but are now on Drive for the Gold Network, spoke about knowing each other well enough to see and feel when you’ve pushed a joke or comment too far. They’ve been on air together as co-hosts 20 years, Kyle and Jackie O for 25.
Kyle and Jackie take digs at each other every day. Last Friday was different. Kyle pushed a button in Jackie suggesting that she was not paying enough attention to her work and distracted by trivial things like star signs. Jackie bristled, and that annoyance was written all over her segment, including the stars in question, in a way that is not like Jackie at all.
As she was wrapping up Kyle, not reading the signals, took aim again suggesting everyone in the office was talking about her distraction too. If this is something that was bugging him, then that conversation should have taken place off air. It should not have involved drawing battlelines and done publicly. This was when Kyle massively overstepped an invisible line in their professional relationship.
Jackie decided to take a couple of days, and then the rest of the week off. Tellingly, KIIS made no mention of the incident on their socials or podcast catch ups (although it is in the complete show package they share afterwards) and I am proud of whoever at ARN made that decision, because my gut tells me that making the discussion a highlighted ‘thing’ would have escalated the situation significantly.
Kyle, with the supporting team around him, continued on air, including a more than 10 minute chat with the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese who called into the show the following day. That’s below:
What an extraordinary conversation and one that has not been included in the PM’s post interview media transcripts, presumably because he actively called the show like a regular punter. He sounded so much like a regular punter in fact I thought it was a stitch up at first. Albo didn’t acknowledge Jackie’s absence, and interestingly the pair both gave Karl Stefanovic‘s podcast great promotion, so much so that the Lodge was evacuated after a bomb threat just after Karl and Albo’s live podcast interview, but I digress.
Kyle is a pro, and a great interviewer, but the essence of Jackie and all that she contributes on air, and off, was blatantly missing on Tuesday and Wednesday. I think it would also be fair to say that Jackie is far more accustomed to hosting sans Kyle that visa versa, so Tuesday and Wednesday also felt very blokey.
Kyle, as he also should do, didn’t focus on the absence but continued with the show. He did apologise and say that while he had messaged Jackie, the pair had not yet talked.
In my role at Radioinfo, whenever I publish any story about Kyle and Jackie O, good, bad or in between, the haters and the trolls come out in troves. I find it upsetting and exhausting, and I’m not them.
I’m not seeking to change your mind, but will instead use the words of the late broadcaster Terry Kerr who spoke up in a room full of people dismissing the pair after yet another No 1 survey result and said:
“Have you ever actually listened? Why not ask yourself what they are doing right?”
Kyle was off air on Thursday February 26, unwell.
I’ve been listening to the packages of content that KIIS is airing across this morning and I can hear all the teasing moments of camaraderie that Kyle, Jackie and the team share when the energy in the studio is good.
This is a big moment in radio, and for future of the show. The reasons for Jackie’s response and actions extend far beyond Friday’s disagreement including having to deal with a stalker, leaving her podcast with best friend Gemma O’Neill, the ACMA coming down on the show for their missteps upon launching into Melbourne and the diatribe since then.
I would suggest that breakfast radio isn’t as fun as it once was, made worse by your friend and colleague calling you out for your efforts after 25 years of putting in way more work behind the scenes than those listening ever see or hear about.
And, just simply as two human beings, I hope they are okay.
Jen Seyderhelm is a writer, editor and podcaster for Radioinfo. Opinions are her own.
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