2Day FM radio star quits breakfast show, effective immediately
A Sydney breakfast host has walked away from his show effective immediately, admitting he’s “not okay right now”.
A Sydney breakfast radio host has quit, effective immediately, to focus on his mental health.
Southern Cross Austereo announced on social media on Friday afternoon that Jimmy Smith would no longer be heard on the 2DayFM breakfast show.
“Jimmy Smith has made the difficult decision to step away from the Jimmy & Nath with Emma Breakfast Show on Sydney’s 2DayFM for personal reasons,” the network wrote on Instagram.
“Nath (Roye) and Emma (Chow) will continue to host 2DayFM Breakfast for the remainder of 2025. We respect Jimmy’s choice and thank him for his contribution to SCA.”
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Smith, who was not on air this week, released a follow-up statement saying, “This has been one of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever had to make”.
He continued, “Taking this week off made me realise just how much I’ve been struggling with my mental health. I’m not okay right now, and I need to step back and focus on getting well.”
The announcement comes just a few days after the 2Day FM breakfast show sank to a record-low in the latest radio ratings which were released on Tuesday.
The Jimmy & Nath with Emma Breakfast Show recorded just a 2.9 per cent audience share, a long way behind FM market leaders Kyle and Jackie O on 12.5 per cent.
The Jimmy and Nath Instagram account, which boasted 624,000 followers, appears to have been stripped already, as has all Jimmy and Nath content from the 2Day FM Instagram account.
The 2Day FM curse continues
Friday’s announcement is yet another chapter in the chaotic history of the 2Day FM breakfast slot, which has been dubbed “the poisoned chalice of radio”.
The station was on a high when Kyle and Jackie O hosted the breakfast show on 2Day FM, but everything changed when they defected to KIIS FM at the end of 2013 and took the majority of their listeners with them.
Since then, the 2Day FM breakfast slot has cycled through an extraordinary number of shows, none of which have topped the FM ratings.
The shows include:
2014: Merrick Watts, Jules Lund and Sophie Monk with Mel Brown
2015: Dan Debuf and Maz Compton
2016: Rove McManus and Sam Frost
2017: Em Rusciano and Harley Breen
2018: Em Rusciano, Ed Kavalee and Grant Denyer
2019: Grant Denyer, Ed Kavalee and Ash London
2021: Dave Hughes, Ed Kavalee and Erin Molan
Jimmy and Nath took over the 2Day FM breakfast slot in late 2024, with Emma Chow joining the program at the start of 2025.
Originally published as 2Day FM radio star quits breakfast show, effective immediately
