With the sudden collapse of The Kyle & Jackie O Show this week, the industry is already in a frenzy over who will inherit the most coveted throne in Australian breakfast radio.
Jackie ‘O’ Henderson confirmed her exit in a statement on Tuesday, days after a fiery on-air row with co-host Kyle Sandilands. He has since been warned his contract will be terminated if he does not respond to an allegation of serious misconduct within 14 days.
It remains unclear if Sandliands, 54, will remain in his position at KIIS FM or even how he can “remedy” the situation in the next two weeks.
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If he manages to save his position at ARN, he may face the prospect of working with a new co-host. Or, ARN may choose to place Henderson, 51, in the slot and replace Kyle should his contract end.
Alternatively, they could both end up at other radio networks or leave the media environment entirely.
At any rate, radio insiders have spoken out about what the future of the show might look like and who might be best fit for such a coveted radio slot.
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Former Nova executive Dean Buchanan told nine.com.au “we need to see how this plays out” but it looks like ARN will have “two choices”.
“Build a new show – that may or may not include either Kyle or Jackie. Or, buy an existing show. The challenge here is that most top talent will be in tight contracts.”
One name that has immediately come up as a possible replacement for Henderson is Sophie Monk, 46, who has regularly filled in for Henderson in the past.
Monk is well liked by listeners and most recently filled in for Will McMahon on Will & Woody on the KIIS network’s national Drive show.
She currently hosts Love Island Australia for the Nine Network.
“Sophie, I would imagine would be on a short list from Kyle,” former radio executive Craig Bruce, who was program director at 2DayFM during the radio duo’s reign at the station, told nine.com.au.
“One of the first things is he has work his way through his ‘remedy’ scenarios so he can go back to the radio station. But if they are building a show around him, I’m sure she would definitely be asked.”
Or, Beau Ryan may be placed on the breakfast show with Henderson. Ryan and Henderson have co-hosted the show together before while Sandilands was off sick.
Ryan, 40, is currently on Triple M breakfast in Sydney with Aaron Woods and Cat Lynch.
With candidates such as Ryan, Bruce told nine.com.au it all depends on if they can “get out of their contracts.”
Bruce joined Irena Hulme on their podcast Game Changers: Radio where they further speculated about Sandilands and Henderson’s futures, and the future of the breakfast slot on KIIS.
Bruce also discussed the situation on Today, saying he “can’t see a world where Kyle will be back on KIIS, and to be honest I can’t see a world where Jackie will either”.
“The challenge for Kyle is that advertisers don’t love him,” he said. “He can bring the ratings, the revenue has always been the issue for Kyle.”
Bruce said on the podcast he feels ARN would be more likely to retain the services of Henderson rather than Sandilands, after the success of a campaign by advocacy group Mad F–king Witches (MFW) to convince advertisers to pull their campaigns from the show due to what they deemed Sandiland’s “offensive” commentary and behaviour.
“What we do assume is that ARN do not want to move forward with a show centred around Kyle because there’s no revenue in that model,” Bruce explained on the podcast.
“If they had to pick, and I don’t know if that’s an option, whether they can come back to Jackie and go, ‘Hey, what can we do here?'”
Bruce did say ARN could “perhaps” retain Sandilands services for Sydney, but not Melbourne where the show has failed to make a mark since launching in 2024.
Hulme suggested Sandilands on KIIS in Sydney and Henderson on 2Day FM, with the former co-hosts fronting rival breakfast shows.
Bruce said if he were to “put money on it” he predicts Henderson will return to 2Day FM in 2027.
“People like Tim Ross would be incredible, Jules Lund could do it – there would be a long list of male co-hosts that could make a great show with her,” he said.
Ross co-hosted a successful long-running breakfast show with Merrick Watts on Nova from 1988 until 2009. He currently contributes to ABC National radio.
Hulme even suggested a breakfast show which paired Henderson with Ross or Lund had potential to go national, to which Bruce agreed.
Lund currently co-hosts Stan’s MAFS After The Dinner Party, part of the Nine Network and previously co-hosted Fifi and Jules on 2Day.
Bruce told nine.com.au: “I know Tim is a real fan of the show. They’ve worked together at different stages along the way. He’s super experienced. He ticks all the boxes, and Jules Lund as well.
“So her and Jules have worked together a lot and he’s really talented too. So he might be an option.”
For KIIS, Bruce suggested Ryan John and Toni Lodge to host a show for the network in Melbourne, and Luisa Dal Din and Jack Archdale for KIIS in Sydney.
Bruce feels they could “name their price”.
John and Lodge currently host an award-winning podcast called Toni and Ryan which they launched in mid-2021.
Bruce told nine.com.au this particular option is unlikely.
“Tony Lodge and Ryan John have an unbelievably successful podcast with an international audience, so I think whilst that would be a fever dream for any radio executive to get that into a show, I don’t think it’s going to happen.
“They’ve just got too big of an audience and they have their own world that they are managing and communicating with. Plus it’s a very different kind of business model to the one where you move back into radio and have to kind of answer to the players and management.
“So I don’t think Tony and Ryan – as much as I think they would do a great job on Melbourne radio. I’m not sure that will happen.”
Luisa Dal Din and Jack Archdale, who host Lu & Jarch on Triple M would be on a “very short list” of potential shows that could take of breakfast in Sydney for KIIS next year.
Current fill-in host Kent ‘Smallzy’ Small could also be a contender.
Small, 41, hosted the number one night show on Nova for 23 years before being poached by ARN in 2025.
He was originally placed on a split shift on KIIS, hosting an hour-long show from 3-4pm and then a second shift that runs from 7-9pm.
‘Smallzy’ has proven himself with younger audiences and has a slew of celebrity friends and contacts.
Bruce also suggested an established duo that previously worked together and have proved themselves in Melbourne, like Matt Tilley and Jo Stanley who hosted The Matt & Jo Show from 2003 until 2013.
“I think the other option potentially for Melbourne would be someone like Matt Tilley, who has worked on Fox Breakfast and was essentially number one for 20 years,” Bruce told nine.com.au.
“Jo Stanley is out of radio at the moment.
“So a show that has worked together before that is well known in the market.
“They might go down that path. There’s probably more options for Melbourne and it’s a little less risk in Melbourne because there’s less to lose.”
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