Four-time AFL premiership winner Isaac Smith is walking away from football commentary to join KIIS FM’s Melbourne breakfast show following the axing of Kyle Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson‘s radio partnership.
Smith will join broadcaster Ash London and fashion stylist Elliot Garnaut behind the microphone from October 26, trading his Triple M special comments role for a daily breakfast gig.
The new show, KIIS Breakfast with Ash, Issie & Elliot, will run from 6am to 10am, with former Bachelorette star Georgia Love delivering the news.
For Smith, the move marks a career change outside the sport in which he won four AFL premierships.
‘It’s nice to step outside the bubble, out of footy and my comfort space – and I get a chance to learn,’ he said.
‘There’s a lot of negativity around Melbourne but we love it. I’ll do the commute from Geelong each morning and we will have plenty of fun and laughs.’
Four-time AFL premiership winner Isaac Smith will leave Triple M’s football commentary team for KIIS FM breakfast radio
Kyle and Jackie O’s Sydney-based show struggled to deliver the ratings KIIS had hoped for in Melbourne
Smith will commute from Geelong each morning as he swaps AFL special comments for breakfast radio
The trio faces the task of winning over Melbourne listeners after KIIS’ decision to broadcast the Sydney-based Kyle and Jackie O show into the city failed to deliver the hoped-for ratings.
The latest survey put KIIS’ audience share at 5.1 per cent, well behind Nova’s 10.8 per cent.
Smith already has a working relationship with Garnaut, with the pair hosting the podcast No Utes in the Valet.
They met through mutual friend Carrie Bickmore and her fundraising efforts for brain cancer, forming a connection that will now extend to four hours of live radio each weekday.
Garnaut, who has made guest appearances on Sunrise over the past three years, said he was ready to embrace the early starts.
‘The energy on set has been great and I’m excited to go from a night owl to an early morning person,’ he said.
‘It will be so fun to have all these worlds colliding.’
The role also places Garnaut opposite close friend Lauren Phillips, who fronts Nova’s Melbourne breakfast show alongside Jase Hawkins and Clint Stanaway.
Smith said he was ready to step outside the football bubble and embrace a new challenge behind the microphone
Smith will join Ash London and Elliot Garnaut as the new voices of KIIS Melbourne breakfast from October 26 following the departure of Kyle and Jackie O from the city’s breakfast lineup
London brings extensive radio experience to the new team, returning to Melbourne after a stint working in New Zealand.
She said establishing a shared approach was crucial before the hosts committed to the show.
‘It already feels like we’ve known each other for a long time,’ London said.
‘No one wanted to sign up until our values aligned and we’re all on the same page.’
London said the team wanted to deliver a distinctly local breakfast program.
‘My husband and I both work in radio and we really do believe it when we say this is the greatest city,’ she said.
‘We’re giving Melbourne something that’s uniquely Melbourne, joyous and positive. Radio is the best job in the world and it’s all I’ve ever done.’
The Melbourne announcement follows ARN’s appointment of Dr Chris Brown, Amy Gerard and Jack Charles to its Sydney breakfast slot.
Charles joins after 11 years at Nova, while Gerard has already worked as a KIIS Breakfast fill-in and hosted KIIS Weekends.
The separate line-ups mark a new direction for the network following the decision to end the Sydney-based Kyle and Jackie O breakfast experiment in Melbourne earlier this year.
ARN chief executive Michael Stephenson said the appointments were designed to give each city its own identity.
‘We’ve brought together big stars, fresh new talent and distinctive local voices to create shows that reflect the character and energy of their cities,’ he said.
