The radio host who has replaced the Kyle and Jackie O Show says the show must go on after the formal split of the controversial pair.

Jackie “Jackie O” Henderson quit her lucrative radio show on Tuesday night, after an on-air spat with divisive co-host Kyle Sandilands.

The pair were in just the second year of a mammoth 10-year, $200 million contract, but Henderson’s deal was scrapped when she told KIIS FM’s parent company ARN she could not continue to work with Sandilands.

Sandilands, who has been embroiled in scandals throughout his contentious career, was hit with a breach notice for “serious misconduct”. He has been taken off air for two weeks.

It comes amid a troubled bid to nationalise the Sydney-based show and take a bite of the larger Melbourne radio market.

KIIS’s regular afternoon host Ken “Smallzy” Small filled in on Wednesday morning. He began the show by acknowledging he was involved in “the strangest set of circumstances ever”.

“There’s a saying in showbiz that the show must go on,” he told KIIS FM listeners.

“I love radio and as someone who has grown up listening to the Kyle and Jackie O Show, it is as much [of] a shock to me as it would be to you hearing it.”

The on-air friction between Sandilands and Henderson stemmed from him berating her during a live broadcast on February 20, where he criticised her after she looked into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s horoscope.

“You’re off with the fairies … every segment, every time you’ve spoken, you don’t even know what’s going on,” Sandilands said in his rant.

“You’re not doing the rest of the job and everyone in this building has mentioned it to me.”

On Wednesday, Small read a statement on-air addressing the split, so the audience could “officially hear it from us”.

“Kyle has been given 14 days to remedy a serious breach of contract in respect of the show … if that does not happen, that contract will be terminated,” he said in conclusion.

Brooklyn Ross, who worked on the show for 12 years, addressed the show’s axing on air.

“I’m obviously great friends with Jackie and Kyle … it was such a great ride, so that’s what I’ll always remember,” he said.

In a statement to the ASX, ARN said Sandilands had two weeks to remedy his breach, adding it would sack him entirely if he did not.

NSW Premier Chris Minns, who attended Sandilands’s 2023 wedding along with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, expressed shock about the break-up.

“I’m surprised about it,” he told ABC Radio Sydney.

“I’ve known Kyle for many, many years … it’s sad that these shows wind up.”

–AAP