A falling out with Kyle’s wife could be adding to the drama.
He revealed on air that his wife gave him a telling off over his heated radio run in with radio co-host Jackie ‘O’ Henderson.
But Woman’s Day’s insiders say a shock “family rift” could be at the heart of Jackie O’s shock decision to quit the Kyle and Jackie O show.
Due to return to the airwaves on March 2. ARN released a bombshell statement on Tuesday night revealing the pair were no longer a radio team, after 22 years of hosting the top-rating Kyle and Jackie O Show together.
“ARN Media Limited announces that Ms Jacqueline Henderson has given notice that she cannot continue to work with Mr Kyle Sandilands,” the statement read.
“Accordingly, ARN has terminated the services agreement with Henderson Media Pty Ltd, under which Ms Henderson presents the Kyle and Jackie O show. Ms Henderson will cease to present the Kyle and Jackie O show. ARN has also offered to Ms Henderson the possibility of an alternative show in the ARN network.”
The pair were currently one year into a ten-year, $200 million contract with KIIS parent company ARN.
Now a well-placed radio insider tells Woman’s Day tensions have been simmering between the famous friends and co-hosts for months – and there have been discussions about their roles as godparents to each other’s children.,
“This has been coming for a long time according to radio insiders. When it comes to roleplaying over the years, Jackie has always been the one to follow Kyle’s lead hand – he has made no secret who is the boss,” the source spills.
“She’s finally had enough – and she’s in pretty rough shape.”
The mother of one has been missing from the airwaves since Friday February 20, when Kyle slammed her “fixation’ with astrology during a segment about the former prince, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, launching a spray in which he likened Jackie’s “fixation” with star charts to that of a “drug addict”.
“I don’t mean to be rude but… I don’t think it should be at the detriment of everything else on the show, this relentless research…” Kyle said.
“It’s affecting other things,” Kyle added. “Your fixation on this has made you almost unworkable.”
The incident, which left Jackie “offended”, led her to step away from the radio show for several days to “gather her thoughts”.
Kyle went on to present solo with input from newsreader Brooklyn Ross.
On day three of Jackie’s absence, Kyle shared an update with listeners, confirming his co-host would be “off for the week”.
The Australian Idol judge also reflected on his behaviour publicly for the first time.
“I got a text message yesterday from Marcia Hynes, my other work wife at the TV, and she’s like ‘what’s going on with Jackie?’. I left it for a while…” Kyle shared.
“I got a bit of a blasting from my wife. She’s being supportive but she’s also very honest with me, and she goes ‘well from time to time you do say things at home that don’t land well either’.”
“And she’s right. I think I said to my wife, ‘the friendship between Jackie and I has been over 27 years, we’re very honest with each other’, and sometimes when I think about it in hindsight I probably should have said my words to her off the air. But sometimes this show’s just so free-flowing, and honest.”
But according to our insiders, there could also be tension between Jackie and Kyle’s wife Tegan, who were famously very close but seem to have drifted apart in recent months.
“Then there are reports Kyle’s wife Tegan who was once incredibly close to Jackie now feels like she dumped her for newer friends,” says the insider, adding that it especially hurts because Jackie is the godmother to their three-year-old son Otto.
And according to our sources, Jackie has reached out to Tegan in the wake of the falling out to say she “understands if Tegan no longer wants her to be godparent to Otto”. Kyle is also godfather to Jackie’s 14 year old daughter Kitty.
While Kyle hinted the show’s future is now in management’s hands, the source says IF Jackie comes back, “they may just have to bite the bullet and literally kiss and makeup on air if they both want to continue on the airwaves”.
As for the future of the show, the source says, “The other problem that has loomed is the fact Kyle has moved on from his well published “bad boy” days and now seems to be content being a doting dad and enjoying family life.
“In stark contrast, Jackie has a new spring in her step – she’s lost all her weight, she’s always out and about.
She is best pals with Sydney’s “It girl” socialite Pip Edwards, their friendship according to a reliable source has caused even more waves between Jackie and Kyle who reportedly warned Jackie that burning the candle at both ends isn’t a good mix for the rigours of breakfast radio.
“Only time will tell, but one thing Jackie has made very clear – she doesn’t need the money. So walking away from her multi-million dollar contract will be easy considering she’s already worth more than $50 million dollars!”