Lauren Phillips has opened up about losing her KIIS FM job to Kyle & Jackie O after they landed a $200million expansion deal to broadcast in Melbourne.
The Nova 100 host detailed the brutal fallout with the radio stars alongside her fellow co-host Jase Hawkins, admitting she was ‘broken’ and considered fleeing the country after believing her career was over.
‘I was gutted. I thought that was the end of my radio career,’ she told news.com.au.
‘Late last year I was ready to leave the country and move overseas. I was like, “I’m out of here”.’
When Nova approached the radio duo for a breakfast show opportunity, Phillips revealed she was initially hesitant to get on board and explained she was worried of facing the axe again.
‘I had a pretty bad taste in my mouth and I was scared of that happening again,’ she said.
It comes after Jase and Lauren beat Sydney-based rivals Kyle Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson in the recent radio ratings.
Lauren Phillips and Jason ‘Jase’ Hawkins had a huge win in the FM breakfast rankings, becoming the second most-listened to show in Melbourne.
Lauren Phillips (pictured) has opened up about losing her KIIS FM job to Kyle & Jackie O after they landed a $200million expansion deal to broadcast in Melbourne, admitting she was ‘broken’ and considered fleeing the country after believing her career was over
They boosted their 8.7 per cent share to 9.6 per cent in the latest survey, knocking FOX FM’s Fifi, Fev and Nick, who dropped from a 10 per cent share to 9.5 per cent, down to third place.
The Kyle and Jackie O show came in sixth place with a 5.9 per cent share behind smoothfm and Triple M’s Marty Sheargold Show.
GOLD FM’s Christian O’Connell still has the highest rating FM breakfast show in Melbourne with a 10.8 per cent share.
Earlier this month, Sandilands broke his silence after his show fell short in the ratings.
The 53-year-old weighed in on the results and their show’s progression, explaining that despite the results, the Kyle & Jackie O Show is slowly gaining momentum in the Victorian capital.
Lauren Phillips and Jason ‘Jase’ Hawkins had a huge win in the breakfast slot, becoming the second most-listened to show in Melbourne. Both pictured
‘We gained another 50,000 people, but apparently that wasn’t good enough,’ he said live on air.
He added: ‘It’s a slow burn, you know, not everyone wants to hear about dildos and a**e-licking.’
On April 29, Kyle and Jackie O took their breakfast radio show to Melbourne in a huge multimillion-dollar expansion deal.
The move triggered the axing of Jason ‘Jase’ Hawkins and Lauren Phillips’ breakfast show.
On April 29, Kyle and Jackie O took their breakfast radio show to Melbourne in a huge multimillion-dollar expansion deal
An unapologetic Kyle said he felt indifferent to his competitors being sacked, as it ultimately came down to who was attracting the most listeners.
‘No, I don’t care. That’s why we went for Melbourne, we were like, ‘We’ve given this Jase and Lauren on KIIS FM a good run, it can’t get over fourth in the radio ratings, so we’ll take it’,’ he told news.com.au.
He added that the The Kyle and Jackie O Show was moved to Melbourne because it was a ‘market in trouble’ and their program could help regain listeners.
However, Kyle’s co-host Jackie ‘O’ Henderson took a different approach, adding that while she didn’t like competitors being axed it was the unfortunate reality of the business.
‘No one ever wants to move someone out of a job. I wouldn’t want that to happen to me. It’s a double edged sword, it really is,’ she said.
