Kyle Sandilands

He finished 3rd on day 23.

Kyle Dalton Sandilands (born 10 June 1971) is an Australian radio host, shock jock and television personality.

He is currently the co-host, with Jackie O, of the weekday morning radio program The Kyle and Jackie O Show on Sydney's radio station KIIS 106.5.

Sandilands landed his first radio job in 1992, at the age of 21, at 4TO Townsville where he was employed to drive the station's promotional vehicle.

Within weeks he had declared his willingness to do whatever it took to get ahead: to work anywhere, in any time slot.

He took gigs in Cairns, and then Darwin, before joining Austereo's Triple M in a Brisbane station by using a false resumé to impress one of the station's executives.

In 1999, he moved to Sydney, and commenced at 2Day FM as host of the Hot30 Countdown, replacing "Ugly Phil O'Neil", a former husband of Jacqueline Henderson (Jackie O).

Sandilands attributes his radio career taking off to being told by then Group Program Director Jeff Allis to "do whatever you want, just win".

Sandilands was paid $255,000 per year while working on the Hot30 Countdown.

Much media coverage of Sandilands has focused on the negative aspects of his personality and behaviour, notably his widely publicised clashes with and criticism of other media figures, his intemperate on-air outbursts and his alleged "out-of-control" ego.

In 2002, Sandilands competed in the only Australian series of Celebrity Big Brother.

From 2005 to 2009, and again since 2023, Sandilands has served as a judge on Australian Idol.

In 2005, Sandilands replaced Ian "Dicko" Dickson as one of the judges on Network Ten's Australian Idol.

In October 2005, he referred to the eventual 2005 Idol winner Kate DeAraugo's arms as "tuckshop lady arms".

In September 2006, Sandilands was named the most hated Australian identity in a Zoo Weekly article, although on 14 October 2006, Sandilands and Henderson were named "Best On-Air Team" at the Australian Commercial Radio Awards.

In September 2006, Sandilands told 2006 runner-up contestant Jessica Mauboy to lose her "jelly belly".

A year later, Sandilands referred to contestant Bobby Flynn as a "mong" – a derogatory slang term for mongoloid, referring to people suffering from Down syndrome.

Sandilands claimed that he meant no disrespect to those with Down syndrome.

Sandilands and Jackie O were again named "Best On-Air Team" at the Australian Commercial Radio Awards in 2007, 2011, and 2015.

In 2008, he became the host of Big Brother, alongside Jackie O. In 2010, he became a judge on Australia's Got Talent and also on Australia's version of The X Factor.

Sandilands has become known for controversial on-air stunts and offensive comments.

This has led to companies removing their advertisements, findings of serious breaches of the Industry Codes of Practice and Guidelines, and to his firing from Australian Idol.

On 14 July 2008, two weeks before the season finale, Sandilands appeared on the 2007 Australian season of Big Brother.

In August 2009, The Kyle and Jackie O Show was put into "indefinite recess" by the Austereo network as a result of a controversial on-air stunt on his morning show on 29 July 2009.

He returned to his radio show on 18 August 2009 but was suspended on 9 September 2009 due to on-air comments relating to Magda Szubanski.

In the same year, he was again named the most hated by Zoo Weekly.

Sandilands and Henderson were the hosts of the nationally syndicated chart show The Hot Hits, before swapping host roles with Andrew Günsberg in December 2009, who had previously hosted Take40 Australia, but left the show at the end of 2011.

In November 2023, it was revealed that Sandilands and Jackie O had signed a 10-year, A$200 million deal, a record for the Australian market; in other words, Kyle and Jackie O would each get a base salary of $10 million, plus bonus total stock options valued at $14 million.

The pair also negotiated a clause that allows them to broadcast from anywhere on earth; additionally, the show will be syndicated in the Melbourne market, leading to the cancellation of the Lauren & Jase show by the end of 2023.

He continued as a judge on Idol until, just before the premiere of its seventh season, he was dropped from the show in August 2009.

He was involved in a number of controversies relating to remarks to contestants as his stint as a judge.

On 3 August 2009, Network Ten issued a press statement announcing that Sandilands had been sacked from Australian Idol, citing the network's view that the Kyle and Jackie O Show's content was incompatible with the family-oriented image of Idol.

In September 2022, Sandilands was announced as a returning judge for the Seven Network's revival of the series for 2023.

He rejoined the show as the only judge from the previous iteration of the show, judging alongside former American Idol judge Harry Connick Jr. as well as singers Meghan Trainor and Amy Shark.

In late 2023, it was announced that the show had been picked up for a ninth season, set to air in January 2024.

It was also announced that Sandilands would be returning as a judge alongside Amy Shark, however, Meghan Trainor and Harry Connick Jr. would not be returning.

In October 2023, Seven officially announced that original Australian idol judge Marcia Hines would be returning as a judge in 2024 alongside Sandilands and Shark, with the show going back to its original 3 judge format.

Sandilands and co-host Jackie O moved to new station KIIS 106.5 in 2014 with their show, The Kyle and Jackie O Show, to the ARN (Australian Radio Network).

In 2014, Sandilands made his first appearance in a motion picture in Fat Pizza vs. Housos.

The film was first shown in Australian cinemas on 27 November 2014.