Kyle : the Raw Interview pt 5

Radio Consultancy

Final day !

Kyle Sandilands is Australia's most controversial media star. He is also one of the most successful.

Now, for the first time ever, Kyle tells all about his radio career – and doesn't hold back. Here on Radio Today he goes into depth with Scott Muller, about:

  • the controversies
  • his thoughts on the press

  • why comedians hate him
  • the advice he'd give himself if he could go back in time

  • and where he plans to take his career next

 

Background: Long before Kyle’s rise to stardom, Kyle and Scott Muller worked at 6MMM Perth (now 96fm). Scott was PD, Kyle was in promotions, and here they catch up and talk frankly and openly … and Kyle doesn’t hold back in revealing more about Kyle’s radio career and 2Day’s “Kyle & Jackie O Show” than you’ve ever read before…

You can read part 1 here, part 2 here, part 3 here, and yesterday’s instalment here
 

Scott: Does your relationship with celebrities and your understanding of what they go through (in terms of being scrutinised by the media) – does that affect the way you think about the controversies?

Kyle: Usually it’s just because of something dumb that I’ve said, and that’s usually out of ignorance.

A lot of the things that I’ve said … was just pure ignorance. If I offended people … I do feel remorse if I offend people.

I just didn’t like the way (things get) twisted… 90% of these stories in magazines … we all know in the media they’re (bull)shit. When they twisted the truth and it turned into something else, and the perception became the reality. There is no quest for the truth, journalists are just googling someone else’s story, and just running that story as gospel. It’s a bit sickening to me but that’s the world we live in. I still do it myself, I’ll open a magazine and read a story and go “I can’t believe this has happened” – but it probably hasn’t happened, it’s probably not even true. But I still fall victim to it everyday.


Scott: Yes, we all work in the media – so you’d think we’d all be aware of the illusions it creates. Hugh Jackman (Iconoclasts documentary) said something insightful on the subject of how even people working in media/entertainment get caught up in the distortions: “It always seems crazy to me that people who are in the business of illusion, get caught up in the illusion”.

Kyle: Yes. My Grandma will say “it said on Channel 9 that this happened” and I go “no that didn’t happen”, then she says “but it said on Channel 9 that it did”. Even your own Grandma questions you when you tell her it’s not true. It’s just very bizarre.

Scott: In terms of rapport between you and Jackie, it does sound like you know each other well, and genuinely like each other.

Kyle: We’ve had a few blow ups over the years but I really mean only a few. It’s always been the wrong perception, mainly in the earlier years when I was a lunatic. But I’m just a bit calmer now, I just couldn’t be fucked. I’m now running on the myth of the devil years, everyone just thinks “don’t mess with him”, so I don’t have to do anything – it’s great.

Scott: Now, to finish up, if you went back in time and talked to yourself, what would your advice be to yourself ?

Kyle: For the first 8 years of bouncing around the regionals, everyone always said to me “you’ll never be on the air with that squeaky voice, just stick to promotions – you’re good at that”. So I flip-flopped for many years, I kept second guessing myself. I always wanted to be on-air but always kept that promotional thing as well as a fallback. I even resigned myself to the fact that I was never going to be on-air. But I probably wouldn’t change anything because I’m a big believer in whatever path you’ve walked was for a reason. But I should have gone with my gut, I should have taken the dive into the announcing part sooner but hey – I could still be sitting in Townsville right now if that was the case. I only got to work with better people by doing different jobs all the way through it.

So I would probably say to myself, “you’re gonna have more than you ever expected”. All I wanted to do was do breakfast on the Gold Coast, that’s what my dream was. Never had any expectations of going to Sydney, ever. I always exceeded my expectations. I couldn’t even get a job at i98, I was too squeaky. Somehow I ended up here.

Scott: So you’re kind of a failure. You haven’t really fulfilled your career goals at all – you still haven’t done breakfast on the Gold Coast

Kyle: (laughs) Exactly…I might actually end up there. Don’t pat myself on the back yet…

Scott: Yeah, that’d be premature – you’re not even close to achieving your dream gig…

Kyle: … (I’m) not even in the right state!! (laughs)
 

Thanks to Kyle for taking the time to talk so openly and frankly.
 

Scott Muller is Director of MBOS Consulting Group, a media management and consulting firm.

Click here to contact him.

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