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Robin Bailey marks positive return to Brisbane radio with 97.3FM following her husband’s death

Robin Bailey admits she was trepidatious about returning to Brisbane’s airwaves on 97.3 FM today, after the tragic loss of her husband, but she says the trolls who think “she cries too much” had nothing to do with it.

ROBIN Bailey will continue to share her personal battles on radio, whether “miserable” trolls thinks she cries too much or not.

Just four months after the death of her husband, Sean Pickwell, Bailey returned to Brisbane’s airwaves on Tuesday with 97.3 FM’s reinstated breakfast show Robin, Terry & Bob.

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And while she admits the majority of listeners were overwhelmingly supportive of her decision to return to the network she was dumped from three years ago, some of the comments had been “nasty and personal” with familiar complaints such as “she whinges too much” or “she cries too much”.

Reinstated breakfast radio show Robin, Terry & Bob were back on air with 97.3FM on Tuesday. Picture: Supplied
Reinstated breakfast radio show Robin, Terry & Bob were back on air with 97.3FM on Tuesday. Picture: Supplied

“You can’t do anything about trolls,” Bailey told The Courier-Mail.

“I say this to my kids, when you dig deep to someone who is willing t put that out on a public space… It’s not about me. If you say something nasty, then that takes a certaintype of person.”

“What people think of me is none of my business. I really don’t care. How miserable must you be?”

Bailey left Triple M’s breakfast show – which she joined after being sacked by 97.3 in late 2016 – in September to spend time with Pickwell, who sadly died of cancer six days later.

Terry Hansen, Robin Bailey and Bob Gallagher spent their first day back on air together with 97.3FM on Tuesday, three years after Bailey’s departure from the station
Terry Hansen, Robin Bailey and Bob Gallagher spent their first day back on air together with 97.3FM on Tuesday, three years after Bailey’s departure from the station

Earlier this month, The Courier-Mail revealed Bailey was rejoining 97.3 alongside returning co-host Terry Hansen and Bob Gallagher, who also supported Bailey when she lost her first husband, Tony Smart, to suicide in 2014.

When asked why she believed listeners were often critical of her, Bailey responded: “I don’t think I’m special – I’ve had a lot more personal stuff happen and people have an opinion about personal issues.”

“I’m probably more willing to discuss those and I’m willing to do that because I think it helps,” she continued.

“It helps to start a dialogue about suicide and to talk about cancer. I’m no oracle, I’m just a woman who is going through a whole lot of stuff with her kids; I just happen to have a platform, and I just want to be a positive light and help people feel like they’re not alone.”

“I certainly know when Tony died, and also when Sean died, when people reach out and say something heartfelt, it can change your day.”

Sean Pickwell’s open letter on the experience of terminal cancer

Robin Bailey (centre), Terry Hansen and Bob Gallagher worked together for ten years until Bailey left in 2016. Picture: Peter Wallis
Robin Bailey (centre), Terry Hansen and Bob Gallagher worked together for ten years until Bailey left in 2016. Picture: Peter Wallis

Bailey said she was “pretty worked up” on Monday about the prospect of returning to work for the first time since Pickwell’s death.

“I didn’t put a lot of pressure on myself. I did a lot of grieving and thinking at home, so I had a bit of trepidation about getting out into the world and doing a full day of work,” she said.

“I was OK. I’m the kind of person, I let myself feel everything beforehand and then I get on with it. I want to have a good time and I want to laugh. I’ve cried enough … And I really did (have a good time).”

Original URL: https://www.couriermail.com.au/entertainment/confidential/robin-bailey-marks-positive-return-to-brisbane-radio-with-973fm-following-her-husbands-death/news-story/8755906ac54dcf2853e7d56fa80c02fa