Jackie ‘O’ Henderson once said she so relished working with ‘best mate’ Kyle Sandilands and she did not consider what they did together a ‘job’.
But the pair’s 26-year on-air partnership, the most famed and well-paid in the Australian radio industry, crashed and burned on Tuesday, with Jackie’s $100 million contract terminated after she declared she could no longer work with the man she once called her closest friend.
With KIIS FM’s The Kyle and Jackie O Show now in tatters, Henderson’s future in radio is uncertain, while Sandilands has been benched amid what ARN has called ‘an act of serious misconduct’ following a spectacular clash between the pair over his co-host’s apparent obsession with astrology.
But the fallout between the duo was a long time in the making, with cracks showing for some time, and boiling over in recent months.
Tensions were visible last year, when Sandilands’ declaration that Henderson was ‘off with the fairies’ signalled his growing annoyance over his co-star’s more esoteric interests.
His open vitriol as he slammed Henderson’s ‘airy fairy’ proclivities was a sure sign that the relationship was disintegrating.
Kyle and Jackie O’s pair’s 26-year on-air partnership, the most famed and well-paid in the Australian radio industry, crashed and burned on Tuesday. Both pictured
The fiery exchange was captured in an unaired segment.
In the recording, Sandilands, 54, was heard goading Henderson, 51, about being ‘off with the fairies’ and taking calls instead of working.
‘There’s a lot you don’t remember. Are you sure that you’re the full quid?’ Sandilands asked.
‘I don’t know if you are. Remember the other day when I said something about being on the phone and you said no, I haven’t?
‘We all laughed because nearly every break you were on the phone, but you genuinely thought that you weren’t.’
‘That actually annoys me that you did that, because I was on the phone – I was researching stuff to do with the segment that was coming up and I specifically remember that you guys were like, “pay attention and do some work”,’ Henderson snapped back.
‘And I was like, hang on a sec. I was actually doing work on the phone.’
The tit-for-tat continued before Henderson finally had enough.
Henderson once said she so relished working with ‘best mate’ Sandilands that she did not consider what they did together a ‘job’. Pictured in 2005
‘Okay, I’m going!’ she raged.
‘I’m constantly getting f***ing gaslit around here!’ she added, before storming off.
‘Can’t mention anything to you ever. Can you believe it?’ Sandilands said as she left.
The tension continued this year, when, just days before last month’s ‘astrology’ bust-up, Sandilands angered his co-star as he belittled her recovery from addiction, which led to a 2022 rehab stay at the Betty Ford Clinic.
Henderson lambasted Sandilands for not reading her 2024 memoir, The Whole Truth, which detailed her battle with substance abuse.
‘If I was ever to read a book, I’d read your book,’ Sandilands said, when she admitted she did not watch him on Australian Idol, where he serves as a judge.
‘Oh yeah, I don’t need to feel bad about it either,’ she replied.
‘What do you mean?’ he pressed.
‘Because you didn’t read my book,’ Henderson responded.
Tensions were visible last year, when Kyle’s declaration that Jackie was ‘off with the fairies’ signalled his growing annoyance over his co-star’s more esoteric interests. Pictured in 2022
Henderson, who has lost 20 kilos and undergone a glamorous makeover, has appeared in the new guise of an Eastern Suburbs socialite. Pictured with Pip Edwards
Newsreader Brooklyn Ross chimed in: ‘Aren’t you interested in, like, everything she did in rehab, Kyle?’
‘No. Is that in (the book)? What did she do?’ he said, before clapping.
‘Clapping and being positive, I’m not into. I’m already happy. I don’t need that. I don’t need some old lady to tell me how to be happy,’ he added, before clarifying that the ‘old lady’ referred to Betty Ford.
‘Really? Are you though? A leopard can’t change its spots really, can he?’ Henderson argued.
Days later, tensions boiled over when Sandilands mocked Henderson for seeking out an astrological birth chart for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
During the on-air feud, Henderson broke down in tears when the pair were discussing the disgraced royal.
Sandilands got angry at her when she proceeded to read out the royal’s birth chart.
He lambasted his co-star, claiming that her love for astrology was affecting her work.
She has been keeping the company of high-profile P.E Nation designer Pip Edwards (left)
Both Sandilands and Henderson have sought work in television, with Henderson a judge on The Masked Singer (pictured) before its cancellation, and Sandilands an ongoing judge on Australian Idol
When she attempted to defend herself and accused him of launching an attack on her, he stated he was only expressing the ‘facts’.
An emotional Henderson said she was deeply ‘offended’ by his brutal comments.
She then demanded a leave of absence following the altercation – never to return.
But there was notable tension long before the straw that broke the camel’s back.
The radio queen also stormed out of the studio in September last year after the duo clashed during an ad break.
Sandilands revealed the argument had been sparked when she accused him of not being interested in what she was discussing.
‘Any relationship is not always smooth sailing. She cracked the s***s and left, but fear not, this show will not miss a beat,’ he said.
He then explained why his co-star stormed off and told him she ‘wasn’t coming back’.
The ill-will continued this year, when, just days before the ‘astrology’ bust up, Kyle angered his co-star as he belittled her recovery from addiction, which led to a 2022 rehab stay at the Betty Ford Clinic. Pictured in 2008
‘It was because I wasn’t buying into what she was saying, she accused me of not being interested in what she was talking about,’ he said.
Outside of their top-rated radio show, there have been signs that the co-stars are pulling in different directions.
Henderson has been trying to grow her brand outside of her partnership with Kyle for many years.
In 2022, she parted ways with her long-time manager Brad March to join a new agency set up by her friend Gemma O’Neill.
The two launched a podcast together, Her Best Life – ‘for women who are ready to find their joy’.
Alongside Her Best Life, a lifestyle and events business was then launched to great fanfare, Besties, with the pair’s friendship as its linchpin.
A few weeks ago, however, Henderson pulled out of Besties and Her Best Life.
She explained ‘a big shift’ had happened leading up to the decision and implied that she ‘wanted to protect a fair bit of [her] private life’.
Henderson has been trying to grow her brand outside of her partnership with Kyle for many years. In 2022, she parted ways with her long-time manager Brad March to join a new agency set up by her friend Gemma O’Neill (left)
It seems that leaving her popular KIIS breakfast show had been on Henderson’s mind for a while. In July last year, she revealed plans to step away from the mic for good after her 10-year contract wraps up
Both Sandilands and Henderson have sought work in television, with Henderson a judge on The Masked Singer before its cancellation, and Sandilands an ongoing judge on Australian Idol.
Additionally, Henderson, who has lost 20 kilos and undergone a glamorous makeover, has appeared in the new guise of an Eastern Suburbs socialite and is keeping the company of high-profile P.E Nation designer Pip Edwards.
Her change in lifestyle and social status is believed by some to be driving a wedge between the pair.
And it seems that leaving her popular KIIS breakfast show had been on her mind for a while.
In July last year, she revealed plans to step away from the mic for good after her 10-year contract wraps up.
She detailed her plans on-air after Sandilands revealed his desire to live in a French chateau.
‘That’s my plan, at the end of the 10 years to go to Italy and live there for six months every year,’ she said
When Sandilands asked: ‘So, what you’re saying after this 10-year deal’s up that’s it for you?’ Henderson replied with a succinct: ‘Yep.’
The renowned radio stars first teamed up back in 2000 as co-hosts of the Hot30 Countdown on 2Day FM. Pictured in 2005
She also inadvertently telegraphed her current clash with Sandilands in an interview with T Australia in October.
‘Kyle and I have been going head to head a little bit lately, so I will certainly speak up if I don’t agree with what he’s saying,’ she told the publication.
The renowned radio stars first teamed up back in 2000 as co-hosts of the Hot30 Countdown on 2Day FM.
The Kyle and Jackie O Show kicked off on 2Day FM in 2004 and lasted a decade, before the radio duo made the jump to KIIS FM in 2014.
The pair signed a 10-year deal with Australian Radio Network (ARN) in 2023, and have eight years left on the contract.
They were paid a reported $200 million in that landmark negotiation and earned approximately $47,000 per episode.
But on Tuesday, The Kyle and Jackie O Show collapsed.
KIIS FM’s parent company ARN announced on Tuesday that Henderson’s $100 million contract has been terminated after she told executives she ‘cannot continue to work with Mr Kyle Sandilands’ following his harsh comments on-air that left her in tears.
Sandilands has been suspended and given 14 days to ‘remedy’ the breach, or else faces termination.
ARN provided written notice to Kyle stating that it considers his behaviour during the show on February 20 ‘an act of serious misconduct which is in breach of ARN’s services agreement with Quasar Media’.
The KIIS breakfast show will be taken off-air immediately, with ‘interim arrangements made for the show’.
ARN has offered Henderson the possibility of an alternative show on the network.
