'Why parents can breathe a sigh of relief on the school run after radio show's demise'
By Merryn Porter|
F?or close to 20 years, parents have been running a gauntlet during the morning commute to school.
If your radio was on and you forgot to change stations before setting off in your car for the school drop-off, you could run the risk of your children inadvertently hearing some very adult-only content.
Up until this week, the main offender was the Kyle and Jackie O show.
The show first became a fixture of the coveted breakfast radio space in 2005.
After almost a decade at 2Day FM, Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O, whose real name is Jacqueline Henderson, announced they were moving their show to KIIS 106.5 from January 2014, where they have remained until this week.
Years ago, I was caught out when driving my then primary school-aged children to school when a song on the radio ended and Sandilands' voice appeared.
Before I could register, he started a rant on a topic that was not the type of content most parents want their children to hear.
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And so the news this week that the show was off the air was welcomed by many, including Nine's parenting expert and Parental Guidance host Dr Justin Coulson.
He took to his Happy Families Facebook page on Wednesday to celebrate the end of the show.
"Here's the parenting angle nobody's mentioning," he wrote.
"Parents in Sydney and Melbourne can now drive their kids to school without stressing about whether the dial is on KIIS FM and whether their children will inadvertently hear content that is absolutely not for kids.
"The content on the Kyle and Jackie O show was so offensive that Australia's media regulator refused to read it aloud in parliament, saying it wasn't 'appropriate for parliamentary language'.
"Yet it aired between 6am and 9am จC right when parents do the school drive with their kids in Australia's two biggest cities."
Coulson then gave two examples of the type of content aired on the show, including revolting comments Sandilands made in 2024 about Henderson's sex life.
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Coulson's post seems to have hit a nerve with his audience, attracting more than 6000 reactions and hundreds of comments on Facebook alone.
"Agree with you 100 per cent," wrote one. "Thank you for having the morale fortitude to come out and publicly share your opinion, yet more importantly advocating on behalf of all children to be just that จC children."
"My kids would automatically switch it if they heard the 'rude man' was on on the drive to school. Thankfully they never heard anything as bad as above!" wrote another.
ARN Media confirmed Henderson's exit from the show on Tuesday afternoon following a fiery on-air clash with her co-host.
It was also revealed Sandilands had been suspended and warned his contract would be terminated if he does not respond to an allegation of serious misconduct within 14 days.
The news came after Sandilands berated Henderson on air after she raised the topic of astrology and birth charts during a discussion about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.?
?"Your fixation on this has made you almost unworkable," Sandilands said.
He said her fixation on astrology charts made her like a "drug addict", knowing Henderson has faced addiction struggles before.
"You are not doing the rest of the job, and everyone in this building has mentioned it to me."
This is the full statement released by ARN Media on Tuesday:?
Ms Jacqueline Henderson has given notice that she 'cannot continue to work with Mr Kyle Sandilands.
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 on the ARN network. ARN has also provided written notice to Mr Kyle Sandilands and Quasar Media Services Pty Ltd (Quasar Media) stating that it considers that Mr Sandilands' behaviour during the show on 20 February 2026 is an act of serious misconduct which is in breach of ARN's services agreement with Quasar Media, under which Mr Sandilands presents the Kyle and Jackie O show.
Mr Sandilands has been given 14 days to remedy this breach. If it is not remedied, ARN will terminate the services agreement with Quasar Media, and in that event Mr Sandilands will cease to present the Kyle and Jackie O show.
During the 14 day period, Mr Sandilands will not take part in the show. The KIIS breakfast show will be taken off-air effective immediately, with interim arrangements made for the show.
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