Jackie Henderson has officially quit The Kyle & Jackie O Show, bringing to an end one half of Australia’s most lucrative breakfast radio partnership.
In a statement posted to the ASX on Tuesday evening, ARN Media confirmed the news.
“ARN Media Limited [ASX: A1N] announces that Ms Jacqueline Henderson has given notice that she ‘cannot continue to work with Mr Kyle Sandilands,’” the statement reads.
“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.”
Sources within both the pair’s inner circles have told Mediaweek they were “blindsided” by the sudden announcement.
Kyle and Jackie O
Full ASX statement
“ARN Media Limited [ASX: A1N] announces that Ms Jacqueline Henderson has given notice that she ‘cannot continue to work with Mr Kyle Sandilands,’” the statement reads.
“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 has been taken off-air effective immediately, with interim arrangements made.
Kyle and Jackie O during the chat, which saw Jackie walk. Source: Instagram
Departure ‘a long time coming’
The formal exit follows Henderson’s on-air walkout last week.
Multiple sources across the radio and media industry told Mediaweek that her decision to step away from the show had been “a long time coming,” describing it as the actions of a woman who has “realised her worth” after years inside what many insiders characterised as an uneven on-air partnership.
Several industry figures said the program’s internal dynamics and power structure had long been understood within radio circles.
“It’s an open secret in the industry that it’s the Kyle show,” one insider said.
“What Sandilands wants, Sandilands gets.”
The on-air clash
The immediate catalyst was a heated on-air exchange in which Sandilands criticised what he described as Henderson’s recent “fixation” on astrology before broadening his attack to her overall performance.
“You’re not doing the rest of the job, and everyone in this building has mentioned it to me,” he said, claiming staff had repeatedly asked what was “going on with Jackie” over the past month. “It’s not great, it’s just a fact. Wake up (beep) .. I’m not lying to her to make her feel bad.”
Henderson responded: “Well, let management talk to me then. No, please, I welcome it.”
As the exchange intensified, she became emotional.
“I would never say things like that about you,” she said. “There are so many things that you don’t do, and I would never bring them up, and I would never say what people say.”
Sandilands replied, “Feel free, it’s an open forum,” but Henderson declined to continue what she described as a “tit for tat,” labelling the situation “mean and nasty.”
The $200 million question
In 2023, Henderson and Sandilands signed a 10-year contract reportedly worth around $200 million with ARN, locking the pair into KIIS FM breakfast until 2034.
That deal underpinned ARN’s broader strategy to scale The Kyle & Jackie O Show beyond Sydney, including its high-profile Melbourne launch in 2024.
As previously reported by Mediaweek, the size of the investment meant the program carried enormous strategic weight within the business, with executives effectively wagering that national expansion would deliver the audience growth and advertising returns required to justify the outlay.
With Henderson’s services agreement now terminated, ARN can no longer rely on the original structure of that blockbuster arrangement. The pairing that anchored the 10-year strategy is finished.
Whether Sandilands remedies the alleged breach – or whether ARN moves to terminate his agreement with Quasar Media – will determine the next chapter.
For now, the show is off-air, the contracts are in dispute, and one of the most significant bets in Australian radio has unravelled in real time.