Jackie ‘O’ Henderson reveals how she got her first job in radio by dating a much older presenter when she was just a teenager
Jackie ‘O’ Henderson has shared how she got her start on Australian radio.
The KIIS FM star, 48, told her co-host Kyle Sandilands that her foot in the door was all thanks to her ex-husband and radio DJ, ‘Ugly Phil’ O’Neil.
The ex-couple met when an 18-year-old Jackie called the radio show Phil was hosting at the time to enter a competition, and they married just a year later.
Jackie explained that while living on the Gold Coast as a teenager, she would call Sea FM in the early 90’s in an attempt to score Guns N’ Roses concert tickets.
“I never worked at Sea FM,” she said, adding that Ugly Phil took her out “on a date” after asking her to come visit the radio station and pick up the concert tickets.
Jackie ‘O’ Henderson has shared how she got her start on Australian radio
Jackie recalled that the couple had only been together for three months before he was offered a radio job in Canberra.
“I moved with him because we were in a relationship,” she added.
They then moved to Adelaide, where Jackie was offered a job ‘on the phone’ at the station Phil was hosting – after an employee was fired for ‘s**t-canning’ staff members in her calendar someone found on her desk and read .
“The rest is history,” Jackie said.
Jackie O (left) told her co-host Kyle Sandilands that her foot in the door was all thanks to her ex-husband and radio DJ Ugly Phil O’Neil (right)
Phil and Jackie previously worked together as co-hosts of the Hot30 Countdown in the 1990s.
Their split in 1999 led to the end of their radio show and Phil returned to the UK.
Jackie divorced her second husband, Lee Henderson, in October 2018 after 15 years of marriage.
The Hendersons met in the year 2000, got married in 2003 and welcomed daughter Kitty in late 2010.
Jackie divorced her second husband, Lee Henderson, in 2018 after 15 years of marriage (seen here with their daughter, Kitty). She has not dated anyone in public since the split
She hasn’t dated anyone in public since the split, but British photographer Lee has moved on with jiu-jitsu instructor Gabriella Motta.
The former couple shares custody of their daughter, who is now 12 years old.
Last year, the Sydney-based radio host revealed she hasn’t been on a date in nearly four years because she’s “afraid to go out.”
“I’m definitely not done except for what I’m doing right now,” Jackie said.
Jackie ‘O’ Henderson admitted last year that she hasn’t been on a date in nearly four years since her split from ex-husband Lee. The former couple is pictured here with their daughter Kitty
‘I just don’t know when I’ll have time [to date]. I really like being alone now.’
She added, “I’ve never been on a date since I broke up with my husband. I’m also really scared to go out and have that first date.”
Jackie also credited her KIIS FM co-host Kyle Sandilands and their radio show for helping her get through her divorce.
“It’s almost my salvation in a way. Kyle is extremely supportive. He knew what was going on before anyone else did,” she explained.
She added: ‘[Kyle] is a vault – he’ll never tell anyone.’
Jackie also credited her KIIS FM co-host Kyle Sandilands (right) and their radio show for helping her get through her divorce