On Thursday October 23, Radioinfo published the news that KIIS 97.3 Brisbane breakfast radio team of Robin, Kip and Corey, that’s Robin Bailey, Kip Wightman and Corey Oates, will wrap up on Friday, December 12. Over Friday and the weekend, response online snowballed as more and more listeners found out because, for reasons I can only guess at, on their show Friday morning the trio made no mention of it.
Corey only joined the team at the start of this year, properly. He’s been a fun and popular addition. Kip is just shy of two decades on air in Brisbane, with Nova 106.9 for 15 years and KIIS 97.3 coming up for 4. Robin, she arrived on the Brisbane airwaves in 1995. This is her second time with KIIS. The first ended unhappily too. I feel for all three, but would like to use this opportunity to stand alongside Robin a little longer as I believe she represents something bigger, and to many more people than she will realise, than just the radio role that is her public facing job.
This is not really about radio at all.
“These 3 make my day I’m really unhappy not to have them in my life. Why on earth would they do this. Robyn has always been a motivated person even when she had so many sad reasons not to be. I also lost my husband. Robyn made me get out of bed every day. I thank you for your support without knowing who I am. I’m sure there are other out there that feel the same. Thank you”
The above was a comment from a listener post the announcement on Thursday.
If you or someone you know needs mental health support, contact:
Lifeline on 13 11 14 for crisis support any time
Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36
13YARN, run by Aboriginal people, on 13 92 76
Transcultural Mental Health Line on 1800 648 911
Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, if you’re aged under 25
In a life-threatening emergency, call Triple Zero (000).
Robin’s husband and the father of her three sons, Tony Smart, took his life in 2014. She then fell in love, the love of her life, with Sean Pickwell a radio promotions and Marketing Director. They got married in 2018 knowing that Sean was already living on borrowed time due to liver cancer. Sean said at the time:
“I would have understood if she had said no. Talk about buying damaged goods – that’s certainly how I was feeling about myself. Luckily, that’s not what Robin thought.”
On September 20, 2019 Robin walked away from breakfast on Triple M Brisbane to spend every minute remaining with Sean. On her final day on air, her colleague Marto spoke about how upset he was, freely because she had taught him that it was okay for blokes to show emotion, and how proud he was of how she opened up difficult but essential conversations. You can watch below.
Sean died just six days later.
At the start of 2020 Robin return to 97.3 alongside BBQ Bob Gallagher (who is now at 4BH), Terry Hansen who left at the end of 2023, and another lingering co-host called Coronavirus. Robin maintained brutal breakfast hours, the care of her boys plus an ongoing connection with Sean’s, and a positive outlook. She had said as she left Triple M:
“If I never return to radio, I’ve ticked all the boxes. But you know what, the most important thing in life is your family, the most important thing is love.”
In every way, obvious and by example, she has upheld those values and approached her work in ways that made you feel heard and less alone. This extended to the women who might normally be seen as her ‘competition’ when a gathering of comrades on breakfast met and caught up for the first time in February this year:
All of you who have lost someone you love under any circumstances may have asked yourself whether you’ll ever be able to be happy again, to love again or to fully function as you once did beforehand.
Robin made the choice that she can do all of those things and many who have watched and listened along the way will have found hope, like the person above, from her consistent presence on radio, her kindness, empathy, humour, compassion and that reserve of love she keeps drawing from.
There will be a whole new world of opportunities and platforms to share that going forward.
Jen Seyderhelm is a writer, editor and podcaster for Radioinfo.