Jackie O (radio host)

Jackie O

Jackie O at Australian Commercial Radio Awards in Sydney, October 2012
Birth name Jacqueline Ellen Marie Last
Born 31 January 1975
Adelaide, South Australia
Show The Kyle and Jackie O Show
The Kyle and Jackie O Hour of Power
Take 40 Australia
Australian Idol
Station(s) KIIS 106.5
Style Breakfast Show Host and Television Presenter
Country Australia
Previous show(s) Hot 30 Countdown, Australian Princess, Popstars, Big Brother Australia

Jacqueline Ellen Marie Henderson née Last (born 31 January 1975), better known as Jackie O, is an Australian commercial radio host, television presenter, and actress. She is best known in Australia for presenting The Hot Hits Live from LA, Hot30 Countdown, Take 40 Australia, two series of Australian Princess, and the Kyle and Jackie O Show (with co-host Kyle Sandilands).

She has also hosted celebrity prank show Surprise Surprise Gotcha and appeared on the 2007 comedy series The Nation on the Nine Network. She also was the co-host of Big Brother Australia (alongside Kyle Sandilands) after Gretel Killeen, the original host, resigned from the series.

On 1 November 2013, Jackie and co-host Kyle Sandilands announced they would not be returning in 2014 to host their 2Day FM breakfast show. On 29 November the duo, Kyle and Jackie O announced their move to rival radio network ARN and show on new 106.5 station, coming in 2014 with a nightly, "Best Bit's" program networked around ARN stations, Australia wide. [1]

Biography

Early life

Jackie O was born on 31 January 1975 in Adelaide, South Australia.

Radio

Henderson (then known as Jackie Last) originally had no intentions to become a radio personality until meeting Phil O'Neil whilst he was the night host at the Gold Coast's Sea FM in early 1993. At the time, she had worked as an office girl and sandwich hand at a delicatessen. She moved to Canberra with O'Neil a few months later, after he accepted an offer to join FM104.7. After initial rejections by management to have her as his 'phone girl', they finally agreed, although no remuneration was offered.

Soon after, O'Neil accepted an offer to join Triple M in Adelaide but only on condition that Jackie was to be his co-host and it was at this time that she adopted the stage name "Jackie O". When the next survey result came out, the duo's ratings had doubled, easily beating their main rivals SAFM in the same time slot. After another ratings rise in the following survey, Phil and Jackie were snapped up by Fox FM in Melbourne. Soon after, their show was networked (Hot 30) after their move to 2Day FM in Sydney.

The duo co-hosted a Network Ten music show called Ground Zero and the Hot 30 radio show during the late 1990s until the couple divorced and O'Neil relocated to the United Kingdom. Henderson's career on radio rose to new heights after she was partnered with "shock jock" Kyle Sandilands on the Austereo Network (broadcasting from Sydney station 2Day FM). The pair moved from drive time to breakfast at the beginning of 2005. They continued to host the countdown show The Hot Hits until August 2009.

In addition to radio, TV and advertising appearances, Henderson has also done voice-over work for the animated movie Robots, voicing the character "Loretta Geargrinder" in the Australian release.

In 2004, Jackie O was involved in an incident with Australian rock band Frenzal Rhomb which occurred at the bassinthegrass music festival in Darwin. Jackie O arrived on the stage nine hours late and cut into the playing time of Frenzal Rhomb and attempted to speak with the audience during the band's already dramatically reduced set time. Frenzal Rhomb played music over Jackie O so she could not be heard and she left the stage in tears.[2] Kyle Sandilands later spoke abusively to lead singer Jay Whalley during an abrasive and confronting radio interview, with Jay Whalley asserting that Jackie O's security had threatened violence to members of the band. In the radio interview, Jackie O and Sandilands threatened to have Frenzal Rhomb's songs banned from Austereo radio stations, in which Jay Whalley responded "What the hell are we supposed to think? I mean, you've never played us".[3][4] As a result of the incident Sandilands' old friend and manager Ryan Wellington was removed as the producer of the Kyle and Jackie O Show by the Austereo network.[5]

Television

Jackie O has hosted a variety of television shows, most prominently the Popstars series, in which televised auditions were held to select members of a vocal group. In 2005, Jackie O also hosted the Network Ten reality show, Australian Princess, in which they transformed a group of women to sophisticated "princesses". A second series of Australian Princess had gone to air during the non-ratings summer period on Network 10 starting in December. No reason was given by the Network as to why it was shown out of the official ratings period.

In June 2007, she was a cast member of the The Nation airing on the Nine Network. She was also co-host of the comedy show Surprise Surprise Gotcha on the same network, the series has been called the Australian version of Punk'd which was made famous by pranking many celebrities. In October 2007, she along with her radio partner Kyle Sandilands would take Gretel Killeen's job in hosting the 2008 series of Big Brother Australia. Killeen hosted the show from its start in 2001 to 2007. Following poor ratings for this 2008 series, Network Ten announced on 14 July 2008 that Big Brother Australia would not return in 2009.

Controversy

In July 2006, it emerged that some of the 'callers' to the Jackie and Sandilands' 2Day FM morning radio show were actually fictitious. The duo claimed to be unaware of this.[6] On 20 July 2009, Jackie O and Sandilands, on-air, 'cruelly' and 'sadistically' taunted a refugee from Pol Pot's Cambodia. They meted out similar treatment to the woman's 19 year-old niece.[7]

In January 2012, Jackie was criticised by gay rights activists, who accused her of homophobia after she complained on air that she no longer liked her middle name, Ellen, because it "sounds a bit lez" - an apparent reference to US comedian Ellen DeGeneres.[8]

Controversy also erupted after an interview when an American publicist for the film Anchorman 2 verbally attacked Jackie for being "stupid".[9]

2009 lie detector radio segment

On 29 July 2009, a segment aired in which a 14-year-old girl connected to a polygraph machine at the request of the mother, and Sandilands and Jackie O asked probing questions about her past experiences with sex and drugs in a bid to confirm or deny the mother's suspicions. Before questioning started Jackie Henderson asked the mother "What’s your worst fear? Is it the sex?".[10] Sandilands was participating in the show from New Zealand via hookup.[11]

The child started by saying, "I'm scared. It's not fair". Sandilands said, "She is scared everyone. Yeah."[7] The segment went astray when the child revealed she had been raped at the age of 12. After a long pause, Sandilands then asked "Right ... is that the only experience you've had?".[12][13]

The segment was widely criticised by health professionals, media commentators, the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, the public, and reported internationally.[14][15] A group of 15 high-profile psychologists, academics and child advocates wrote to The Age suggesting the show had been the venue for child abuse and a gross violation of human rights.[14][16]

The two hosts received significant negative publicity, with both the public and the press labelling them as "insensitive" and "dim-witted".

As a result of the stunt and the ensuing backlash, advertisers American Express, Optus, Qantas and Network Ten pulled their advertising from the 2DayFM morning show.[17] Austereo put the show "in recess" for an undisclosed period of time as of 2 August 2009.[18][19] On 13 August 2009, Austereo chairman Peter Harvie and chief executive Michael Anderson said Jackie O and Sandilands would be back on air on 18 August 2009.[20][21]

Personal life

She was married to her co host Phil O'Neil during their combined radio career. After their divorce, O'Neil moved to the United Kingdom in the late 1990s. In 2003, she married UK photographer Lee Henderson.[22] In 2007, she launched her 'Jackie O' jewellery collection.

She is vegetarian, and in 2008 was named one of Australia's sexiest vegetarians.[23] In October 2009, Jackie O was named as the second most hated celebrity in an annual list by Zoo Magazine (only surpassed by co-host Kyle Sandilands at number one).[24]

In July 2010, Jackie O announced that she was pregnant with her first child with husband Lee Henderson. Jackie O gave birth to a baby girl, Catalina "Kitty" Mae Henderson early on the morning of 10 December 2010. A controversy started when a photo of Jackie O feeding her baby while crossing a street was published. The incident was widely covered in the Australian media.[25][26]

References

  1. ↑ Hornery, Andrew (1 November 2013). "Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O leaving 2Day FM". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
  2. ↑ "Frenzal take aim at PM". The Sydney Morning Herald. 26 August 2004.
  3. ↑ http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s1167368.htm
  4. ↑ "Media Watch". Episode 2004:26http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s1167368.htm. Australia. 2 August 2004. ABC TV. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ↑ Javes, Sue (18 April 2005). "Shock waves". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  6. ↑ "Media Watch". http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s1714788.htm. 2006-08-14. ABC TV. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Media Watch". http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s2644599.htm. 2009-08-03. ABC TV. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ↑ http://www.perthnow.com.au/jackie-os-turn-to-shame-after-lesbian-lez-gaffe-drawing-criticism-from-gay-rights-groups/story-fn6cmyjj-1226249753686
  9. ↑ "Kyle Sandilands jumped to Jackie O's defence after Anchorman 2 publicist called her stupid". Daily Telegraph.
  10. ↑ Paul Murray (6 August 2009). "Radio hosts have built careers on boorishness". thewest.com.au. Retrieved 7 August 2009.
  11. ↑ Sally Morrell (2 August 2009). "Jackie O is oh so to blame". Herald Sun. Retrieved 5 August 2009.
  12. ↑ "Teen admits rape in Kyle Sandilands, Jackie O 2Day FM stunt". The Daily Telegraph. 29 July 2009. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
  13. ↑ John Plunkett (4 August 2009). "Shock jock Kyle Sandilands dropped from Australian Idol". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 4 August 2009.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Byrnes (31 July 2009). "Rudd slams Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O over radio rape stunt". Retrieved 11 October 2009. |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
  15. ↑ "Reaction to radio rape furore". BBC News. 4 August 2009. Retrieved 5 August 2009.
  16. ↑ Georgina Robinson and Peter Gregory (3 August 2009). "Kyle and Jackie O show off the air". Melbourne: The Age. Retrieved 7 August 2009.
  17. ↑ Holly Byrnes and Ben Butler (5 August 2009). "Screws turn on disgraced shock jock, Kyle Sandilands". Herald Sun. Retrieved 5 August 2009.
  18. ↑ "Kyle and Jackie O suspended indefinitely, Kyle 'unable to work'". NEWS.com.au. 3 August 2009.
  19. ↑ "Kyle, Jackie O 'in recess'".
  20. ↑ "Kyle, Jackie O back on air next week". ABC Online. 13 August 2009.
  21. ↑ Bolt, Andrew (14 August 2009). "Foul radio hurts us all". Heraldsun.com.
  22. ↑ http://www.newstext.com.au/docs/STE/2003/get.jsp?docid=STE-20031214-6-017-4295708V1@NSW-METRO-2004-2003 Jackie ties the knot – The Sunday Telegraph – Australia – Newstext
  23. ↑ Jackie O our hottest vegetarian
  24. ↑ Kyle, Jackie O top most hated list
  25. ↑ "Row erupts over Jackie O's baby feeding furore". The Sunday Telegraph. 3 April 2011.
  26. ↑ "I was running late, Jackie O says". The Daily Telegraph. 30 March 2011.

External links