Five years ago, Christian O’Connell left the UK and his role on Absolute Radio and joined Melbourne’s Gold 104.3 as breakfast host, kicking things off with It’s a Long Way to the Top (if you wanna rock ‘n’ roll) by AC/DC.

In yesterday’s radio ratings, the breakfast show that he, Jack Post and Patrina Jones created was top FM breakfast show in the city.

Reflecting on the last five years, Christian O’Connell said,

“For me, when I look back about who I was when I got here, that feels like ten Christian’s ago. You only get to grow through challenges and trials. The last five years have been the hardest of my life but I’m telling you now, in the same way, I’ve never enjoyed my life or radio more than since moving here.”

Patrina Jones poignantly said,

“I think professionally, I’ve grown exponentially, but I think personally, even more so. I’ve been doing this for 34-35 years. I feel like this show is what I’ve been working my whole career for. I think this is where I’ve always meant to be. I feel it’s some sort of coming age for me.”

“I’ve said to you before Christian, before you came, I feel like I was ready to leave radio and I was going to go into PR. I thought I’ve done everything, I’m not going to break into content, and I think this was as good as it gets for me, and I need to be happy with that. That’s where I was in the headspace. I just came through cancer, and I thought I needed to be grateful for the career I’ve had. You came along and turned everything upside down on its head.”

“What I love most about you [Christian] is how you’ve challenged me, which is exactly what I needed. You pushed me to the brink, I mean that in an adoring way. You can’t possibly project forward and improve without being challenged and you do that. You are the best mentor Christian.”