Kyle Sandilands has revealed the details of his next move after his “piddly” $12 million settlement with ARN Media, and where he currently stands with former co-host Jackie “O” Henderson.
Speaking on the Game Changers Radio podcast released on Friday, the shock jock said he had been in contact with One Nation leader Pauline Hanson since being taken off air in March.
Sandilands claimed he liaised with Senator Hanson on her party’s political messaging.
“I was with Pauline Hanson for a couple of days, just spending some time with her camp since all this saga just working on getting their messaging across which I think has been well received,” he said.
“She is really a surprise, she’s like one of my favourite people now and I didn’t like her that much prior.”
The ABC contacted One Nation for comment.
Sandilands’s new project ‘like the Today Show’
Kyle described the dispute with ARN Media as “daunting” and “boring as hell”. (ABC News)
Reflecting on his new subscription-based project, Sandilands said the new show would mirror the format of his final week on the Kyle and Jackie O Show when he hosted without Henderson.
She was absent from the show following an on-air argument with Sandilands on February 20, where he accused Henderson of “being off with the fairies” because her fixation with horoscopes made her “almost unworkable”.
His $100 million contract was then terminated two weeks later.
“It’ll be like it was that last week when Jackie wasn’t on the show,” Sandilands told Game Changers Radio.
“We’ll still have the different stories but you’ll probably hear more of the ensemble cast, no ads, no censorship but we’ll still be playing songs and you’ll be able to watch it,” he said.
“It will be a visual, video clip, song, ‘back to us in the studio’ like the Today Show type of thing. Hopefully a bit slicker.”
Sandilands said he told KIIS FM parent company ARN Media during negotiations over his unlawful termination dispute about the project and the network originally fought him on the issue.
On Wednesday he accepted a settlement of $12.09 million with ARN Media over his sacking.
Sandilands says negotiations surrounding his new project were had with ARN Media. (ABC News: Jamie McKinnell)
Both he and and his former employer entered a revenue sharing agreement providing his new venture with $1.5 million in advertising over the next three years.
In return ARN Media would hold a 19.9 per cent share of Sandilands’s earnings and he was barred from engaging with any of the network’s direct competitors for nine months.
“I was happy to take the piddly little amount [the $12 million settlement] just to be able to get back to [work]… I’m happy to earn the money,”
he said.
Sandilands said billionaires had “come out of the woodwork asking to meet me … when they heard I was starting something up”.
Where Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ stand now
Speaking of Henderson, Sandilands said he “let her know what I was doing strategically before the settlement”.
“I said to her regardless of what has been said or what you felt or anything where any time I made you feel less than wonderful I really apologise,” he said.
“Hopefully one day we can talk about that and she was very appreciative of that.”
Sandilands said he and Henderson remained in communication.
The Kyle and Jackie O Show abruptly ended after an on-air row. (Instagram: @jackieo_official)
On Wednesday hours after the settlement was announced on the ASX, Sandilands said he was “happy” to settle with ARN Media out of court and “get back to work rather than annoying my wife”.
Sandilands said he did not mind if his new project was “hugely successful” or if it just kept “the people who were retrenched” employed, and was asked if the settlement brought some relief.
“It’s quite daunting to have that hanging over your head, and it’s boring and it’s relentless,” he said.
“It’s just boring as hell to me.”
Henderson’s own $100 million contract termination case against ARN Media will still go ahead.
The duo were on air together for more than 25 years.
