Ben Fordham weighs in on the demise of The Kyle & Jackie O Show: 'I knew that was going to end badly'

Ben Fordham has weighed in on the Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson saga, with his take on where it all went wrong.

The iconic KIIS FM breakfast duo were taken off air last month after Sandilands' fiery on-air clash with Henderson.

Sandilands was suspended from The Kyle & Jackie O Show and accused of serious misconduct, while Henderson's $100million contract was also terminated after she told executives she 'cannot continue to work with Mr Kyle Sandilands' after the fallout. 

Fordham appeared on the Behind the Mic with Mike E podcast and the 2GB breakfast host claimed the pair's eye-watering contract played a part in the show's demise.

Sandilands and Henderson signed a whopping 10-year $200million contract with ARN in 2023.

'I just wonder how much that big 10-year deal played a part,' he said.

Fordham added that upon hearing the news of the landmark deal, he knew immediately that it would end badly, and that the decade-long deal was potentially more like a millstone for the pair.

'When it was announced, I was actually walking the dog with my wife, Jodie, and I said to her immediately, "Kyle and Jackie O's 10-year deal, that's gonna end badly,"' he said.

'The way I explained it to Jodie was, imagine waking up and thinking to yourself, "Okay, just nine and a half more years."'

He also suggested that the formidable sum may have affected the quality of The Kyle & Jackie O Show.

'I think when you throw enough cash in front of people's faces, their vision can be blurred. They can't see what the rest of us can see,' he said.

'A lot of people have seen what's going on with the show. It's lost a bit of fun… I've heard it in my ears.'

However, Fordham added that he believed it was the pair's unsuccessful move to Melbourne that was a major catalyst for the split.

'The move to Melbourne was catastrophic,' he said, adding that ARN execs knew at the time that they were facing an insurmountable battle.

'The boss of ARN at the time, Ciaran [Davis], told me about a year before the Melbourne move was announced: "Kyle wants to go into Melbourne". And he said, "There's no way in the world that's going to happen because that's not the way radio works,"' he said.

'So, he knew that, but he did it anyway.'

He continued: 'I suppose if they're paying them so much money, they needed to justify in their head that spend so they got rid of Jase [Hawkins] Lauren [Phillips], and Clint [Stanaway] in Melbourne who were doing a really good show for KIIS. They punt them, they move across to Nova and now they're rating really well at Nova. So they've stuffed themselves in Melbourne.'

Fordham then took a not-so-subtle dig at his former radio rivals.

'When you're focusing on Melbourne, that means you're taking the eye off the ball in Sydney and that's probably partly why we beat them seven out of eight surveys last year,' he said.

Turning his attention to the fracas that proved to be the final nail in the coffin for the show, Fordham said the clash should never have happened on-air.

'If Kyle had said to Jackie off-air: "I know I'm the last person in the world to offer any feedback or advice on what to say and what not to say on-air, considering that 99 per cent of our problems, including advertiser boycotts and code violations, have been caused by me; however, your interest in astrology is driving me nuts," I reckon Jackie probably would've said: "Oh, righto,"' he said.

'She was begging him to stop... and he was already so far into it that he just steamrolled over the top of it. That's where the mistake was made.'

It comes after Sandilands broke his silence on Tuesday, claiming he had been muzzled by ARN and barred from contacting Henderson or speaking with colleagues.

'ARN told me that I am not allowed to contact Jackie. They have told me that I am not allowed to speak to my colleagues. I did what was asked even though it made it impossible for me to do the one thing anyone in my position would want to do - pick up the phone and talk to the person I have been talking with continually for my entire career,' he explained.

'The truth is that ARN terminated Jackie's contract on the same day it accused me of a breach. It suspended me from work. All of this happened while I was being told to sit quietly and say nothing. That is not a genuine process.'

While acknowledging Henderson had told him she was hurt, he insisted they had always resolved disagreements privately.

'I am not going to pretend that everything about this situation is simple. Jackie told me she was hurt, and I accept that. But we have had disagreements before and we have always worked through them. That is what partners do. We never needed lawyers or ASX announcements to sort things out. I believe we could have sorted this out too, if ARN had given us the chance.

'I have a contract with ARN that runs until 2034. I am committed to that contract. Despite what ARN says, I am not in breach of that contract. I want to be on air. I want to be with my audience. I want to do the job I have done my entire adult life.'