Kyle and Jackie O superfans devastated they’re not seeing eye-to-eye
Actress Christina Fern has been listening to Kyle and Jackie O since she was a teenager.
She’s one of many fans who woke up to a different reality this week when for the first time in many years her favourite duo weren’t on the airwaves.
“I’d been listening ever since I learnt to drive,” Fern told ABC News.
“I remember turning them on when I was 17 and had just gotten my licence and they’ve just really been part of my daily routine since.”
In an ASX announcement on Tuesday, ARN Media, the owner of KIIS FM, said Jackie “O” Henderson “has given notice she cannot continue to work with Mr Kyle Sandilands”.
ARN said the Kyle and Jackie O Show would be taken off-air “effective immediately” and that Sandilands would be given 14 days to remedy a breach in his contract or “cease to present” the show.
On Friday, Henderson insisted she did not quit or resign.
Christina Fern has been listening to Kyle and Jackie O since she was a teenager. (Supplied: Kristopher Bos)
As an actress, Fern, 31, had dreams of one day appearing on the show and says they were wonderful champions of local talent.
“The amount of times I’ve had an ‘interview’ with Kyle and Jackie O in my bathroom with my hairbrush I can’t count,”
she said.
Fern says Sandilands and Henderson had built the type of chemistry and relationship with their audience that you just can’t fake.
“I just love how real and unpredictable the show is,”
Fern said.
“Kyle just says exactly what he thinks. Jackie balances that with warmth and empathy, and that contrast just works so well.
“One minute you’re laughing at something completely outrageous, and the next minute they’re having this honest conversation about life.
“And so many people just connect with them because they’re so authentic.
“They show so much of their own lives, the good, the messy, and the listeners just feel like we know them.”
An antidote to depression
For electrician Ben Stuth, the Kyle and Jackie O show provided a lifeline.
He’s been listening for about five or six years, after making the switch from Triple M.
Mr Stuth was going through a hard time. Nothing worked — not his best friends cracking jokes or trying to distract him, not psychologists or counsellors — it was the Kyle and Jackie O Show that got him out of his funk.
“I had a lot of bad days where I was going through a lot of depression over those last five years and to be honest, listening to them in the morning would put a smile on my face,” Mr Stuth told ABC News.
“I almost got to a point where I was relying on it for laughs in the morning and I reckon there would have been a few people driving past me going, ‘what the hell is this guy laughing about so much in the car?’
“It was really, really helpful through that time.”
Ben Stuth says Kyle and Jackie O helped him beat depression. (Supplied: Ben Stuth)
Mr Stuth was drawn to Sandilands and Henderson’s honesty and as a bit of a homebody, he saw himself in Sandilands, and as someone who is into horoscopes, he could see himself in Henderson.
Mr Stuth’s father, who he describes as “a bit of a hippie”, is also into horoscopes, which is how he got into it.
“Every time they kind of brought it up on the radio, I was like screaming at the radio when Kyle was always saying, ‘no-one’s into this, no guys are into this.’ I’m like, ‘I’m into this!’ There are guys that are into it and it’s OK to be into it.”
He’s hoping Henderson and Sandilands find their way back to each other.
“I still believe that there’s deeper issues there that have caused this and I don’t know if we’ll ever find out, unfortunately. But it’s devastating.”
Adjusting the dial when daughter is in car
Real estate agent Mayla Pilapil has been listening to Henderson and Sandilands for almost three decades since they first joined forces on the Hot 30 countdown at Southern Cross Austereo.
The single mother, who is originally from the Philippines, loves to tune in on her way to work, and as she gets around seeing clients.
“It’s just because they’re fun to listen to,” Ms Pilapil told ABC News.
“They are always laughing and playing cool music. And they’re very authentic.
“They’re genuine people … and there’s just a lot of laughter.”
Mayla Pilapil turns the volume down when her young daughter is in the car, but can’t wait to turn it back up again. (Supplied: Mayla Pilapil)
Ms Pilapil often has to adjust the dial to shield adult content from her 11-year-old daughter.
“When I do start hearing the conversation is for adults, I do tend to turn it down if my daughter is in the car.
“And then once she’s off my car, then I put it back on.
“And then I get annoyed when I get to work, and I can’t listen to the rest … I want to know what happened.“
Ms Pilapil especially enjoys the segment Kyle and Jack Give Back, where people down on their luck call through and are given money and gifts.
“They’ve helped a lot of people,” she said.
When Ms Pilapil heard the news that Henderson could no longer work with Sandilands, she at first refused to believe it.
“I’m like, this is not real. It’s not really real. It’s not happening,” she said.
“I was very devo about it.”
