Media personality Hamish Blake has weighed in on the conclusion of “The Kyle and Jackie O Show,” pointing to the “trust exercise” of live radio as ARN Media battles its former breakfast stars in court.
Speaking on Mark Bouris’ podcast “Straight Talk,” the Logie-winning comedian reflected on the pressures of long-running on-air partnerships, drawing on his own two-decade run alongside Andy Lee: “It’s a really special kind of love because it’s also a love forged by fire because you’ve been in places that only the other guy would understand.”
Blake described the dynamic between co-hosts as both rare and hard-earned, and when asked for his thoughts on the show’s ending, he said he found it “sad” because “no one ever wants it to end.”
“It’s really fun doing things when you find that special person,” he said.
Pressed on whether the situation had shifted his own perspective, Blake pointed to the constant pressure that comes with broadcasting in public. “I wouldn’t say it’s that event particularly, but you always are aware that, hey, we’re going to have extra pressures on us because our relationship’s in the open. And that carries with it every single day,” he said.
“When you’re on radio, every day you’re on air, you don’t know what you’re going to say every day. No one does because there’s too much talking. It would be physically impossible to script a radio show. There’s too much talking. So you never know what you’re going to say. So it’s a huge trust exercise with the person you’re on air with, and it’s the dance.
“And anyone in radio knows this dance, whether it’s two people, four people, five people, you’re like all every day trying to create something out of nothing with each other, and you’re taking tonnes and tonnes of risks thousands of times a day to just see how it goes.”
Love Film & TV?
Get your daily dose of everything happening in music, film and TV in Australia and abroad.
View this post on Instagram
Blake also paid tribute to Kyle Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson, noting the longevity and skill behind their success. “Kyle and Jackie, they’ve been around for 24 years,” he said, adding that they’re “unbelievably skilled and experienced people,” and “are crazily successful because of their skill, because of their talent as broadcasters.”
The comments come as Sandilands and Henderson prepare to front the Federal Court next Friday in separate management hearings, as they continue legal action against ARN.
Both are suing the broadcaster for more than $80 million after the company terminated their contracts and axed their KIIS FM breakfast show, a dispute that continues to cast a long shadow over one of Australian radio’s most commercially powerful partnerships.