The breakfast radio star breaks cover in Sydney after her on-air feud with Kyle Sandilands saw her request more time off and a special meeting held.
The KIIS FM radio host threw the Kyle and Jackie O show into chaos last week after it was announced she would be taking a week off following a hostile on-air tiff with co-host Kyle Sandilands.
She was expected to make her return to the airwaves today, but instead listeners were shocked to hear Kyle announce she had requested more time to further gather her thoughts.
As she emerged from her home on Monday, Jackie did not appear to be her happy and bubbly self.
Dressed casually in a pair of baggy cargo pants and grey T-shirt, the 51-year-old single mum kept her head down as she headed out to an appointment, with black sunglasses shielding her eyes from the cameras waiting.
Meanwhile, over at the station, Kyle – who has been running the show with the help of newsreader Brooklyn Ross – was forced to address Jackie’s no-show briefly at the start of the program.
He confirmed Jackie was taking another week and admitted he was just as confused about why Jackie failed to return as their fans were. In fact, even management were struggling to keep on top of everything going on when it came to Jackie’s return to work.
During her week off last week, Kyle added to the drama unfolding behind the scenes by calling in sick one day and the show was forced to air a re-run of an older show with no mention about either of the host’s absences.
At the time, news.com.au was reassured Kyle was unwell on the day he was MIA and would be returning the following day.
“Kyle is unwell today so we’re running a ‘Best Of’. We’re expecting him back tomorrow,” they said.
While he did, the same could not be said for Jackie and her promised return this week.
Appearing on The Morning Show during Jackie’s second week off, entertainment reporter Peter Ford shared details of an alleged private and telling conversation between Jackie’s manager and best mate Gemma O’Neill and her KIIS FM bosses.
“We know it’s very very serious and there is a long dark cloud over what will happen next. Most people I’ve spoken to don’t think she’s ever going to return,” he revealed.
“Gemma used a word that has triggered radio bosses. She has indicated that Jackie O feels ‘unsafe’ in the workplace and of course as employers, they have to now take certain precautions if she is going to be coming back to ensure this doesn’t end up in some kind of lawsuit.”
Kyle and Jackie have been an unshakeable duo for more than 25 years, but their professional and personal relationship was put to the test on Friday February 20th after Kyle launched an attack on his co-host for being “unfocused” at work due to her current obsession with astrology.
“Your fixation on this has made you almost unworkable,” Kyle said at the time. “You are off with the fairies with this sh*t. It’s mental.”
A stunned Jackie replied, “I totally am offended by you saying something like that.”
Kyle continued, “Well too bad (that you’re offended) … It’s too much. It’s affecting everything else. You’re too fixated on it. Every segment, every time you’ve spoken, you don’t even know what’s going on.”
Jackie was reduced to tears during the argument, which played out on air, telling Kyle that she could not believe he would give her feedback like that with thousands of their listeners tuned in.
“I would never say things like that about you,” she returned. “It’s a total attack, it really is … to say, ‘you don’t know what the F is going on, you’re not doing your job,’ that’s an attack and I wouldn’t do that.”
The program continued with very little said between the two and it was announced that she would be taking a week off on Monday.
Since then, chatter about the radio duo approaching the end of their on-air relationship has been constant, despite both still being under contract. According to radio insiders, the spat was inevitable with the duo drifting apart for years.
