‘I can’t lie … it’s been tough’: Ali Clarke’s emotional radio rating’s confession as Mix bounces back

Ali Clarke and Max Burford get candid on why they think they managed to shake their losing streak and dispel a few rumours.

Despite being the target of immense pressure to succeed, radio icon Ali Clarke has proven her doubters wrong, with her show skyrocketing to second place in the latest radio ratings.

Clarke, along with her co-host Max Burford and the team at Mix 102.3’s Max & Ali, stormed up the second radio ratings survey of 2024 – a feat she was always confident would eventuate.

Mix 102.3 Max Burford and Ali Clarke Picture: Supplied

The rise comes after the show found itself languishing on the leaderboard since Clarke joined the station.

“The only people that seemed to be worried about the speed of how we were going to achieve success were the external people,” Clarke told The Advertiser.

“For me personally, I can’t lie and say it hasn’t been a pretty tough couple of years with the targeting that I feel has been going on and the noise that has happened outside.

“But if you worry about what other people think you’ll never actually be true to yourself.

“If you get too concerned worrying about an external figure and putting that on how well you’re going and your internal worth and what you do, then you’re going to end up being unhappy because you’re never going to please everybody.”

According to Burford, a TV journalist new to radio, and Clarke, the secret to the show’s success has been time.

The audience needed it to get to know Max, and the co-hosts needed it to get to know each other.

“It probably takes time to get used to me and whatever quirks that I bring,” Burford said.

“Ali and I were friendly before we started the show but we are certainly more friendly now.”

Clarke said when poor results mounted early, she was “disappointed for (her) team”.

“For us as a team we’ve just gone about doing exactly what we thought we needed to do and focusing on our listeners and getting to know each other even more and having a hell of a lot of fun along the way,” she said.

“I’ve been in the radio game for a long time and I always take survey results with a grain of salt, even when I was achieving success elsewhere.”

In terms of the future of the Max & Ali show, the pair said they didn’t even know what was happening tomorrow, but always had plans to help the community.

“We’re in a really privileged position, so to be able to use that privilege to help more people is the reason I do it, to be able to connect and to be involved and do stuff for our community,” Clarke said.

Rumours of a Kyle and Jackie O takeover were dismissed by the pair, who said they’d be in the breakfast slot for the rest of the year.

“I’ve been told that’s not on the cards … one thing I’m incredibly passionate about is local radio and people representing and speaking to South Australia,” Clarke said.

Burford said “South Australians love South Australians”.