The relationship between Amanda Keller and Brendan Jones on WSFM breakfast is as close as two people can get without affecting their real life marriage.
In real life, Keller’s and Jones’ families often spend their spare time together. Their kids have grown up together. They go to each other’s functions. If she launches a book, he’s there. If he does the same, she’s there as was the case last November (below left). And Jonesy was there again, with wife Helen last Friday evening… this time for the launch of an art exhibition for Amanda’s husband, Harley Oliver.
This is his third solo exhibition at the prestigious Stanley Street Gallery in inner Sydney. The first one, introduced by close family friend Andrew Denton, was in 2014. Sales of Harley Oliver originals have been so strong, the former successful television producer has taken up painting full time.
If there is a power imbalance between Amanda and the men in her life, it won’t be her complaining to the #MeToo movement. ‘I’ve had more arguments with Jonesy in one week than I’ve had in my entire 25 year marriage,’ she once told me.
What do they argue about?
“The big one is the imbalance of profile,” confides Jonesy, “I think sometimes that can wear me down a little bit. Like when I first started working with Amanda, friends of mine were saying ‘working with Amanda Keller, you’ll take a back seat.'”
Amanda says, “Our radio partnership is 50/50…”
Jonesy hits back, “No! See, this is where the argument comes from. Amanda can’t see where I’m coming from…”
“No, I do understand what you’re saying,” she insists. “But it’s not like I’ve taken something from the radio somewhere else. I did 20 years of TV before I started radio, but you’re making out like people think that my radio input’s bigger than yours. It’s not. We’re 50/50 on the radio.”
“No it’s not that!” says Jonesy, determined to have the last word. “As I said it’s about profile.
“It’s strange, it can manifest anywhere. We can go to a corporate event or something and I’ll be sitting there and people will be talking to Amanda and they’ll say to me ‘and what do you do?’ I think it’s my embarrassment when I say, ‘well I actually do the breakfast show with Amanda.’
“I remember one guy going, ‘You’re what, like a producer or something?’ You just feel like you’re not part of the show.
“But I think I’m growing up about it. I’m not as sensitive about it anymore,” says Jonesy.
Harley’s latest exhibition is about anything but sensitive guys. It’s called Hitters, Grapplers & Strongmen with the focus tent boxers and circus performers in the late 1900’s and the early part of the last century.
The initial idea for the series came to Harley after he discovered a photo of boxer, Kid Lavigne. “In 1894 he killed a man in the ring. By beating him to death, he took on that man’s title – US lightweight champion. I looked again at the photo. There’s none of that story in his face. So, I thought I’d try to expand that image as a portrait on canvas.”
You can view Hitters, Grapplers & Strongmen at The Stanley Street Gallery until March 24.
Peter Saxon