Kyle Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson have drafted in their most senior advisers as crisis talks continue after she walked away from her $100million radio contract and he fights for his job.
Sandilands’ longtime manager Bruno Bouchet arrived at his client’s Vaucluse mansion late Thursday morning – two days after Henderson terminated her 10-year deal with ARN following an explosive on-air row with Sandilands that sparked a network crisis.
Bouchet pulled up just after 10:45am in a black Hyundai Palisade, making a swift entry through the security gates.
He made a beeline for the house and did not stop to answer questions. Bouchet left the property about half an hour later.
Sandilands’ long-standing lieutenant, Bouchet oversees the business operations and investments for his media and commercial empire, known as the King Kyle Group.
A day earlier, on Wednesday, Henderson’s manager Gemma O’Neill was seen arriving at her Clovelly mansion, driving her black BMW into the garage and parking next to Henderson’s Range Rover.
Sandilands’ longtime manager Bruno Bouchet arrived at his client’s Vaucluse mansion late Thursday morning
Bouchet pulled up just after 10:45am in a black Hyundai Palisade, making a swift entry through the security gates
A day earlier, Henderson’s manager Gemma O’Neill was seen arriving at her Clovelly mansion, driving her black BMW into the garage and parking next to Henderson’s Range Rover
Ahead of Bouchet’s visit, a woman believed to be the nanny for Sandilands and wife Tegan’s son moved her car from the street into the driveway.
When asked if Sandilands was holding up okay, she offered a polite ‘yeh’ before later being spotted driving away with three‑year‑old Otto in tow.
On Wednesday, tradesmen were seen arriving at the Vaucluse home to clean out the gutters, only to be sent away as the national news media had descended on the property.
‘You cost us a job,’ the tradesmen jokingly told reporters.
Moments later, Tegan was seen leaving the address only to return half an hour later. She refused to respond to questions from media.
While Sandilands has yet to speak, media did catch a glimpse of him on Wednesday evening when his arm emerged from the front door to collect a sushi delivery.
KIIS FM’s parent company ARN announced on Tuesday that Henderson’s $100million contract had been terminated after she told executives she ‘cannot continue to work with Mr Kyle Sandilands’ following a fiery on-air clash last month that left her in tears.
Sandilands was suspended and has been given 14 days to ‘remedy’ the breach, or else faces termination.
Sandilands and Henderson have drafted in their most senior advisors as crisis talks continue after she walked away from her $100million radio contract and he fights for his job
Tradesmen were seen arriving at the Vaucluse property Sandilands shares with wife Tegan, 40, and son Otto, three, to clean the gutters only to be sent away due to the media frenzy
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’.
Meanwhile, a Daily Mail reporter spoke with Henderson on Tuesday, just hours before her exit was formally announced.
She had travelled from her eastern suburbs mansion to Newtown, in Sydney’s inner west, where she visited a wellness studio just off bustling King St with a friend, Steve Cordony, an interior designer she met through their mutual friend Pip Edwards.
Despite the meteoric news that was about to drop, Henderson put on a brave face, forcing a smile and declaring, ‘Good! I’m good!’ as she left a sound healing session.
Dressed in a white sundress and sporting a full face of makeup and what appeared to be a fresh blow-dry, the mother of one confirmed her session was ‘very good’.
Perhaps tellingly, she alluded to ‘healing’ in the wake of the bruising incident with Sandilands.
‘[I’m] feeling healed. Yes, healing,’ she said while making a beeline for her black SUV.
Tegan was seen leaving the couple’s sprawling property, only to return half an hour later
A Daily Mail reporter spoke with Henderson on Tuesday, hours before her exit was announced
When asked when she would be back on air, Henderson remained coy, saying: ‘I can’t really say anything on that front at this point. I’m sorry.’
Pressed on whether she’d spoken to Sandilands since storming off in tears, she looked momentarily alarmed, ducked into her car and drove away.
Henderson’s clash with Sandilands was sparked by a remark she made about Andrew Mountbatten‑Windsor after she began reading out his astrology chart on air in response to news of his arrest – a moment that prompted her co-host to lash out and accuse her ‘fixation’ with astrology of making her ‘almost unworkable’.
Since the February 20 incident, insiders claim Henderson and Sandilands had only been communicating via text message, ARN management, or through their respective talent representatives, Gemma O’Neill and Bruno Bouchet.
The ‘sound medicine’ class Henderson and Cordony had attended was called Empower: Dynamic Fire Element, a 90-minute experience that costs $75 per person.
According to Frequency Lab’s website, the class is ‘a shamanic journey that stimulates life force and action by awakening our inner fire and warrior archetype’.
Students ‘own their inner warrior’ as they lie on waterbeds while listening to the sound of drums, didgeridoo, gongs and ‘transcendental voice activations’.
Henderson has long been a fan of alternative therapies, which dovetails with her interest in astrology – an interest Sandilands expressed contempt for on air.
Before Tuesday’s announcement, Sandilands said on the radio that Henderson would return to the airwaves ‘at some stage’, but didn’t provide a timeframe.
He told newsreader Brooklyn Ross he had to sign off on an upcoming statement from his co-star, which teased ‘good news’.
‘I did get some good news though yesterday,’ he said.
‘Anything that’s got my name on it, I have to sign off on it, so I signed off yesterday on some sort of statement coming from Jackie’s camp.
‘The only thing I noticed is that Jackie will be returning in the future. So that’s a good sign. So, the intention is to come back, which is fabulous.’
His optimism about her return that morning indicates Henderson’s decision to leave must have been made only hours later.
While her contract is now terminated, ARN has offered Henderson the possibility of an alternative show on the network.
Sandilands and Henderson’s professional partnership dates back more than two decades. They are seen here at the 2003 ARIA Awards
KJO staff, with the exception of Ross, were told not to come to the office on Wednesday and learned of the announcement only minutes beforehand.
Last Wednesday, Sandilands admitted he wished he had handled things differently with Henderson.
‘I obviously upset her. Maybe, in hindsight, I shouldn’t have said it on the air. But we say a lot of things on the air here,’ he said.
‘It was never meant to hurt her feelings and obviously it did. I regret hurting her feelings. No one wants to hurt someone. Especially someone you care for.
‘I don’t really know. The show is just ploughing ahead anyway. I’m just leaving this up to management,’ he added.
Sandilands went on to say he just wanted to be back on the air with everyone happy, adding: ‘I want her to be happy and enjoy it. I also want the same thing.’
He then joked he didn’t care if any of the other producers or staff members were happy because he would ‘swap them all out in a heartbeat’ for his co-star.
Sandilands and Henderson signed a landmark 10-year deal with ARN in 2023 worth $200million – the biggest media contract in Australian history.
However, Henderson recently began saying she would be willing to walk away if she wasn’t happy.
This week, Mediaweek quoted radio industry sources as saying Henderson’s decision to step away from the show was ‘a long time coming’ and the actions of a woman who had ‘realised her worth’ after years in an uneven on-air partnership.