Abbie Chatfield has been recruited by KIIS FM to help fill the void left by former stars Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson. News.com.au reported on Friday that the controversial influencer, 30, will be sitting in the KIIS FM breakfast chair from Monday.
She will be joined by Mike Etheridge (Mike E) and newsreader Brooklyn Ross, who have been holding the fort since the Kyle & Jackie O Show was pulled from the airwaves in March. It's only going to be a fleeting visit, though, with Abbie taking on a week-long guest co-hosting role, as ARN continues to search for replacements for its former flagship duo.
The network has remained tight-lipped about potential replacement plans amid its ongoing legal battle over unfair dismissal claims by Kyle and Jackie. However, sources told the publication that talks with prospective replacements are already 'well underway'.
Abbie's 'trial run' comes after popular Channel Ten star Georgie Tunny sat in the KIIS breakfast chair alongside Mike E this week. The publication also reported that KIIS executives are 'hugely encouraged' by the latest GfK radio ratings survey results, released this week. The show saw a bump of 37,000 more listeners in both the Sydney and Melbourne markets, than in the previous survey, released in March.
Cumulative ratings figures reveal that 673,000 listeners tuned in to the show between February 8 and April 4. Conversely, the March survey, which covered the period between 18 January and 28 February, revealed the show attracted 636,000 listeners. Similarly in Melbourne, listenership increased from 403,000 to 440,000 between the two survey periods.
Meanwhile, Abbie's trial recruitment to KIIS is interesting given her tumultuous relationship with the network. Most notably, Abbie was involved in a feud with Kyle and guest host Brittany Hockley in 2022, after she accused the duo of 'slut shaming' her on air for dating American rapper Yung Gravy. Despite patching things up over the incident, Abbie has been a vocal critic of the show. Also in 2022, Abbie told the Daily Telegraph she found it 'baffling' that Kyle still has advertisers and hadn't been 'reprimanded' for controversial remarks he made about the Paralympics.
Abbie is no stranger to broadcasting, with the former Bachelor star currently hosting the popular podcast It's A Lot. The podcast was broadcast through LiSTNR, which is owned by ARN rival Southern Cross Austereo (SCA). However, earlier this month, Abbie revealed she was launching her own independent podcast business by signing a multi-year deal with Acast, where It's A Lot began. 'I started my podcasting journey in 2019 at Acast with 0 listens, an at-home podcast set-up and dodgy editing skills and I'm so thrilled to be working together once again,' she said in a statement. 'This marks a pivotal moment in my podcasting career as I am taking my own podcasting business, taking my production into my own hands, and going independent with the support of Acast sales. This is a perfect partnership for my next endeavour and I'm honoured to re-join the Acast family.'
Abbie also has experience in radio, with the FBoy Island host helming Hot Nights With Abbie Chatfield on SCA from January 2022 to August 2023. As Kyle and Jackie's separate legal battles with ARN continue, claims emerged this week suggesting Kyle was in talks with the network to return to the airwaves as his $100 million lawsuit inches towards a potential settlement. 'It will all be wrapped up soon. It will end up just sorting itself out, and it will take two to three weeks max,' the source told news.com.au. They added that Kyle, 'would go back' to his show and has 'no hard feelings' about the headline-making bust-up with Jackie that saw him ousted from his top-rated show. 'It is just business' to Sandilands, 54, the source alleged; however, it's unknown if he will accept less than the $10 million-a-year deal he was on before the show's collapse.
