Brittany Hockley says her fans weren’t sure about her joining The Kyle & Jackie O Show to cover for Jackie O Henderson’s absence.
Shortly after Jackie O Henderson announced that she’d be bowing out from the Kyle and Jackie O show for several weeks to convalesce from the effects of COVID-19, Brittany Hockley stepped in to cover for her. Except, her fans apparently don’t think it was the wisest move.
On Tuesday’s broadcast, Hockley brought up the polarising response she got from her fans upon the announcement. While she didn’t say much to her controversial co-host Kyle Sandilands, she did mention how many were against it. “That’s all they said. That’s how you know you’ve made it,” she said.
Hockley may have been diplomatic in her approach, but Sandilands’ recent controversies are self-explanatory. In September, he went on an on-air rant, during which he called his colleagues an ableist slur. He also used multiple derogatory terms – such as ‘flops’ and ‘assholes’ – to describe both his coworkers and his bosses.
Sandilands’ rant prompted the Australian Radio Network to issue an apology after advertisers hinted they would be reviewing their commitments to the network.
While Sandilands later apologised for his comments, his words were less than sincere to many: “If you are offended by any of those words, I am sorry about that. I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. I like to make people feel fun and relaxed and happy, and safe. That is what I like. I’m still not changing [for] the woke world”.
Despite his reputation as a ‘shock-jock’, Sandilands has been called out by multiple personalities – which is what concerned Hockley’s fans.
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“What I can’t reconcile is that [Kyle’s] public persona is so influential and toxic and creates so much harm and hurt for clickbait, which lines his pocket quite nicely,” said one fan about the announcement.
Fans also took issue with Sandilands telling Hockley that she was ‘undateable’ during her debut broadcast. “You scream you should be taken. Good looking, tall, athletic, why wouldn’t you be taken?” he told her. “So something is really wrong with you, and we’re going to find out what. Maybe she’s a punish, maybe she’s a bad root. You might be a dud, and you don’t know”.
