As the titans of Sydney breakfast radio collapse this week, taking a $200million show with it, insiders have turned their eyes to the fractured team surrounding them.
While Kyle Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson may have the sort of money that allows them to walk away from their contracts with their financial futures secure, the same can’t be said for the young KIIS FM staffers who have been working relentlessly behind the scenes to keep the show afloat even as the hosts’ relationship fractured and their Melbourne ambitions fell apart.
According to radio industry sources, KJO staff group chats have been blowing up as producers face an uncertain future with some feeling like they have ‘nowhere else to go’ within the company, as ARN tightens its belt in response to falling revenue.
The Mail is told workers were ‘blindsided’ by the collapse of the popular program this week, which came after Sandilands and Henderson got into a bust-up on February 20 over her interest in astrology – an argument that ended with her storming out of the studio in tears and eventually deciding to terminate her contract.
Now, the production team behind the radio show – which is huge by industry standards – are fearing the worst, with many feeling it is unlikely they will be redeployed elsewhere at ARN because there ‘aren’t any jobs’.
Some roles simply do not exist outside of The Kyle and Jackie O Show.
As the titans of Sydney breakfast radio collapse this week, taking a $200million show with it, insiders have turned their eyes to the fractured team surrounding them. (Pictured: The Kyle & Jackie O production team in happier times with Kyle Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson)
Take the censor, for example, who had plenty to do over at Sydney breakfast with the looming threat of media regulator ACMA, but wouldn’t really have a place anywhere else in KIIS FM’s programming schedule.
Many listeners will no doubt be hoping that popular producer Jaimee Blazquez, better known as ‘Mayo’, will be taken care of as she is on maternity leaving and welcomed her second child only a week ago.
Some of the staff members who jumped ship months ago are likely patting themselves on the back for noticing that Sandilands and Henderson’s fraying relationship was heading towards disaster.
Several key staff members exited the show in the last 14 months, either due to job cuts or because they saw the writing on the wall after the show’s failure in Melbourne.
Their departures were a warning sign that Henderson and Sandilands were never going to last the remaining eight years on their contracts.
Tony Aldridge, content director for KIIS 106.5, who was key in managing KJO and its doomed expansion into Melbourne, was out in May 2025 after seven years with ARN.
Pedro Cuccovillo Vitola, who joined the show in 2016 through a ‘World’s Best Job’ competition, left in late 2024 – a year after being promoted to executive producer – citing the pressures of the job on his personal life.
He’s now in business with another KJO alum, video producer Josh Fox.
Former NRL player-turned-sports presenter Cooper Johns was one among many who left the show in the last year
That same year, audio producer Thomas Martin and censor Nikita McGoram also walked out the door, though their exits largely went unnoticed by the media – until ARN chief content officer Duncan Campbell left in a ‘strategic leadership restructure’.
Campbell, better known as DC, was widely credited for poaching Sandilands and Henderson from SCA in 2013, but was out in early 2025 – triggering a mass exodus of staff when it became clear that KIIS’s hopes for a national breakfast show had been thwarted.
By this point, Sandilands and Henderson were performing dismally in Melbourne, as they struggled to get past a five per cent audience share – compared to their 12 per cent monopoly in Sydney.
In June 2025, studio producer Lachlan Mansell departed, then in July, promotions co-ordinator Mel Maltby left, along with Megan Hui – also from promotions.
Guest booker Kirsten Ploog was made redundant amid a restructuring, and digital producer Ella Kanna was also among those who departed the station.
Louise ‘Schoolteacher Lou’ Senteleky, a producer, was one of the most recent departures, with former NRL player-turned-sports presenter Cooper Johns leaving just a few months prior.
Jobs in finance, sales support and tech throughout ARN were also shed during this time frame as the company moved to outsource to the global IT services and business solutions company TCS, which is headquartered in Mumbai, India.
It wasn’t just staff ARN was losing during this period. The Johns Family Podcast also pulled out of iHeart and went over to Nova, while Life Uncut, hosted by Laura Byrne and Brittany Hockley, jumped ship to SCA.
In the background, Kyle and Jackie O had become a marketing ‘black sheep’ as agencies found it increasingly difficult to sell the show to advertisers, an industry source told the Mail.
Big brands were said to have lost interest in being associated with Sandilands and Henderson because their content was too risky and they simply didn’t bring in the kind of cash they once did.
Pedro Cuccovillo Vitola, who joined the show in 2016, left in late 2024 – a year after being promoted to executive producer – citing the pressures of the job on his personal life
Brooklyn Ross is most likely to keep his job at ARN, as newsreaders are always needed in radio and he is believed to have re-negotiated his contract as recently as last year
Amid the chaos, there does appear to be one possible survivor.
Brooklyn Ross is most likely to keep his job at ARN, as newsreaders are always needed in radio and he is believed to have re-negotiated his contract as recently as last year, securing a position with the wider network.
This means he likely won’t go down with the KJO sinking ship and will continue reading the news for whichever show replaces them.
Indeed, on Wednesday morning Ross was the only person from the KIIS team who was allowed to show up to work, with the rest being told to stay home.
Ross hopped on the air alongside fill-in host Ken ‘Smallzy’ Small to discuss the shock termination of Henderson’s $100million contract and Sandilands’ two-week suspension.
‘I don’t think anyone can believe what’s happened,’ said a shell-shocked Ross. ‘I was on the show for 12 years. Holy crap.’
Meanwhile, there are some at KIIS’ parent company ARN who are said to be popping the champagne bottles and celebrating the end of The Kyle & Jackie O Show.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, some workers are said to be breathing sighs of relief as hope emerges that exorbitant amounts of money will no longer be poured into the breakfast show, leading to fewer job cuts in the future.
Only time will tell, but for the moment, all we know for sure is that Henderson’s contract has been terminated after she told executives she ‘cannot continue to work with Mr Kyle Sandilands’ following his harsh comments that left her in tears.
Furthermore, Sandilands has been suspended and given 14 days to ‘remedy’ the breach in his contract, or else face termination.
ARN provided written notice to Sandilands 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 was taken off-air immediately, with ‘interim arrangements made for the show’.
ARN has since offered Henderson the possibility of an alternative show on the network.
Daily Mail has contacted ARN for comment.
