Sydney radio queen Jackie ‘O’ Henderson once described her best friend and colleague of 20 years, Kyle Sandilands, as her ‘ride or die.’
Now, the 50-year-old has enshrined that sentiment into her legally binding $100million contract with KIIS FM.
Kyle and Jackie O signed a record-breaking $200 million deal with Australian Radio Network (ARN) in November 2023 that would see them remain on airwaves until 2034 – earning a whopping $10m per year salary each.
And on Thursday, the duo opened up about what their extensive contracts stated would happen to the show if one of them were to die.
‘I’ve got a whole page in there about what happens if you die,’ Jackie told Kyle.
‘Oh yes, I’ve got that as well. Actually, I’ve had that for quite a few years. And I think you only just put that in yours this year,’ her co-host confessed.
‘Wait. Why was I in yours? Was I more likely to die?’ Jackie exclaimed.
Kyle reassured her the death clause is something the lawyers came up with years ago, but that the new deal was a chance for Jackie to add her own individual stipulations.
‘They [lawyers] did ring me when they were doing this new deal and said “Jackie wants this [death] clause”,’ he said.
‘I said, well, she should get that. I’ve had that for years.’
As part of Jackie’s contract, the host specified she wanted the option to leave the show if Kyle passed away.
‘So, what would have happened to me prior if you’d have died? Like what?’ Jackie asked him, which Kyle didn’t know.
‘My contract would have still stood,’ she suddenly realised. ‘Now it’s weakened.’
Nevertheless, Jackie said she felt good about her heartfelt choice to honor their 20 years of friendship in the hypothetical face of Kyle’s death.
‘Because I don’t know if I want to do [the show] with someone else,’ she said. ‘To be honest, I don’t know if I want to.’
The pair have supported each other through many on-air and off-air controversies in more than two decades working together.
The friendship has seen them through each of their divorces, and the birth of their children.
‘Aw, bless you,’ Kyle told Jackie, before revealing his own brutal take on the clause.
‘I never even thought about leaving if you died. I just was like, yeah, “We’ll drop her name”.
“Who gets that money?'” is what I said.’
Jackie, in shock, asked her co-host to pause. ‘Wait. Did you put it in your contact that you get my cash if I die?’
Unflinching, Kyle told Jackie that in the event of her untimely demise, he would ‘soldier on’, and take her half of the cash.
‘We drop your name, I get your income,’ he said.
‘I’d just soldier on without you. I wouldn’t like it, [but] I wouldn’t want to let that great bit of content die on the vine. I’d rather be on-air crying.’
The KIIS FM co-hosts both started their radio careers early, but didn’t really ‘make it’ until they were randomly paired up together to host Austereo’s national Hot30 Countdown in the year 2000.
Since then, the on-air powerhouse have gone from strength to strength and in October 2022, were crowned the Best On-Air Team in the FM category for a record eighth time at the Australian Commercial Radio Awards.
‘He is my ride or die,’ Jackie said accepting the award. ‘I know what you’re gonna say before you even say it.
‘We laugh, we cry … but you’ve always supported me and I am just so grateful that you have been the one by my side throughout this. If you ride off a cliff, I’ll ride off it with you.’
In an attempt to find a silver lining in this morbid revelation, Jackie asked Kyle how long he’d take off-air to grieve her death.
‘The weekend, probably.’
Elsewhere, Kyle said it was stated in his contract he would only fly via private jet or first class if he is required to work outside of Australia.
