Rumours swirl about Ali Clarke’s show as Mix faces uncertain future

Mystery surrounds Ali Clarke’s absence from her Mix 102.3 breakfast show, as rumours continue to swirl that Kyle and Jackie O could be coming to Adelaide’s airwaves.

Mix 102.3 breakfast host Ali Clarke has been given an early holiday sparking rumours that she and her show are about to get the axe.

Clarke and fellow brekkie presenter Shane Lowe have been absent from the early morning program for most of this week, while their colleagues Max Burford and Eddie Bannon hold the fort.

Their disappearance from the airwaves follows persistent rumours that The Ali Clarke Breakfast Show could be replaced by the Kyle & Jackie O Show in 2024.

That breakfast program, which has been a ratings winner in Sydney, will be syndicated to Melbourne next year.

A spokeswoman for ARN, Mix’s parent company, said the show finished a few days before their scheduled Christmas-New Year break.

“With family commitments interstate this week, and after a huge year that saw the show reach #2 FM last survey, we decided to finish the show up early. We’re all looking forward to a great 2024,” said the spokeswoman, adding there was no truth to the rumours.

When contacted by The Advertiser, Clarke said she was unable to take a call as she was at “school pick up and Christmas concert”.

Ali Clarke at her home. Photo by Kelly Barnes

Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O.

Radio insiders say it’s highly unusual for a breakfast host to leave their program during ratings survey period. The current one – which is also the last for the year – ends on Saturday, December 2.

Clarke hasn’t been on-air since Monday when the full team, including Shane Lowe, Max Burford and Eddie Bannon, were in the studio. Lowe hasn’t been on-air since Tuesday.

A radio insider claimed there was a “weird vibe” inside the station this week, with employees left in the dark over their future.

“There is a lot of tension in that building. Clearly something is going on,” the source said.

“But no one knows anything, local management aren’t talking. Nothing has been communicated to staff.”

Another radio industry source said they were told this week that there were “quite big changes coming” at ARN.

Mix has also been very quiet despite speculation that it might be rebranded as KIIS and axe Ali Clarke and Co. and syndicate the Kyle & Jackie O Show in the brekkie timeslot.

One of its stars, shock jock Kyle Sandiland, has already made it known he thinks the show should be broadcast nationally.