Major star rejects offer to replace Kyle and Jackie O on KIIS FM
ARN has been dealt a blow, with a major star rejecting an offer to replace Kyle and Jackie O on KIIS FM breakfast in Sydney.
The man widely tipped to replace Kyle and Jackie O on KIIS FM has turned down the job.
Kris Fade, who hosts the number one breakfast show in Dubai on Virgin Radio, announced today that he will remain in the UAE next year.
“A few weeks ago, life threw me a curveball,” Fade wrote on Instagram. “A month ago I was offered my dream job back home, in Sydney.
“For anyone who has ever chased a dream, you’ll understand how significant that was for me.
“My entire family is in Sydney. My roots are there. My childhood is there. My ageing Mum and Dad.
“So for the last few weeks, I’ve spent countless hours thinking, talking, negotiating, praying, and trying to work out what the right decision was,” he posted.
Ultimately, Fade wrote that he decided that “everything I’ve worked so hard for” is actually in Dubai.
“My friends are here, my businesses are here, my team is here, my future is here,” he wrote.
“So while Sydney will always be home, and Australia will always be part of who I am, my heart told me that my story here isn’t finished,” he wrote.
ARN executives had hoped to convince Fade to return to his hometown of Sydney to take on the high-profile gig.
But the broadcaster, who is a household name in the UAE, ultimately felt the time wasn’t right for him or his family to make the move, with the 46-year-old reportedly re-signing with Virgin Radio on a one-year contract.
Fade already had Sandilands’ blessing
Industry insiders have told news.com.au that Fade was put off by the thought of competing against his good mate Kyle Sandilands, who will launch his new app-based subscription breakfast show in August.
It’s understood the Virgin Radio star also wasn’t keen to be the man tasked with the impossible job of replacing a radio dynasty, despite the fact he had Sandilands’ blessing.
Sandilands broke his silence last week in an exclusive interview on the Game Changers Radio podcast, revealing Fade had spoken to him about the possibility of hosting the new KIIS FM breakfast show.
“Kris and I have been best friends for nearly 30 years and he was like, ‘Mate, I would never (take the job),’ and I said, ‘Listen, someone’s going to take that job. If you want to take it … there’s no loyalty here, there’s no problem,’” Sandilands revealed.
“He said, ‘I would not take it without talking to you.’ I said, ‘If they offered it to you and it’s worth your while, take it!’”
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Fade’s not the only one worried about following in Kyle and Jackie O’s footsteps.
Two weeks ago, news.com.au’s Mary Madigan reported that ARN had been struggling to convince people to consider the gig.
“There is not a line-up of celebrities outside ARN begging for the job,” a source told Madigan. “In the industry, people are saying, ‘Don’t go near it, you’d be an idiot thinking you could save the show’.”
In response, an ARN spokesperson told news.com.au today, “We’re constantly having discussions with talented people that are reaching out with interest to be a part of ARN, but Kris Fade won’t be a part of KIIS plans for 2027.”
ARN’s ratings woes
In the most recent round of breakfast radio ratings, released on June 11, KIIS FM’s audience share plummeted, with Kyle and Jackie O’s loyal fans turning their back on the station.
The ratings, which covered the period from March 1 to May 23, showed the KIIS FM breakfast slot lose 3.5 per cent audience share, seeing the station slide from number one FM breakfast to number three FM behind Smooth FM (11.4) and Nova (9.5).
It’s a result that many expected as KIIS FM replaced The Kyle and Jackie O Show with temporary fill-in host, Mike E, and a number of guest co-hosts.
“It’s the least surprising thing I’ve seen in radio this year,” Craig Bruce, host of the Game Changers Radio podcast, told news.com.au at the time about the ratings result. “There was always going to be a portion of the audience that would leave KIIS following the Kyle and Jackie break-up.”
Mr Bruce added that ARN executives would have taken some comfort in that Kyle and Jackie O’s listeners seemingly haven’t picked a new breakfast show in Sydney to listen to.
“My guess would be that ARN would be very comfortable with today’s result for this reason; both Nova 96.9 and 2Day’s breakfast audiences declined, suggesting that right now neither show is a long term threat to KIIS FM and they (ARN bosses) would be hoping that they can quickly recover once they have a new show on the air,” he told news.com.au.
The next round of radio ratings will be released on July 14.