After all, it’s not called Brisbane’s radio wars – with this time of year dubbed the industry’s “killing season” – for nothing.

In the past month alone, three local hosts have been axed – 4BC mornings presenter Bill McDonald, the station’s breakfast anchor Peter Fegan and 97.3FM’s popular trio Robin, Kip and Corey all shown the door.

While the podcast host and social media star, 38, isn’t worried about his own job in the current firey landscape, his approach remains pragmatic: “You kind of just have to go ‘Well, I’m lucky to be doing it while I’m doing it’.”

“Everyone knows it’s not going to be for forever,” he said.

“And you know what radio is like too – rumours galore. Everyone’s always gossiping. As long as you can pay your bills, I guess you’re pretty lucky.

“We’re also not saving lives either, you know? I mean, we’re not curing anything.”

Tucking into a 300g eye fillet on a balmy Brisbane afternoon at the Norman Hotel, Acton said he felt for the 97.3FM breakfast team, who had speculation hanging over their heads for the better part of the year before the blow came.

“It sucks when anyone loses their job in any industry,” he said.

“We’re all lucky to do this job and we all know our time will come to an end at some point. I think it hurts us because we pour our whole lives into it and we see great people like Robin, Kip and Corey get moved on for business decisions but, at the end of the day, it’s a business.”

Acton, who grew up in Gladstone, joined the B105 breakfast team alongside Stav Davidson and Abby Coleman in 2017, having previously worked everywhere from Toowoomba, the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast to Sydney and Melbourne.

Like most breakfast shows, Stav, Abby and Matt have had their share of ups and downs but they’ve remained popular across the eight years Acton has been there. The trio most recently came in second in the ratings with a 12.7 per cent audience share in October.

“The landscape is still really tight ratings wise in Brisbane – it’s like anyone can have it (the top spot) on any day,” he said.

“I think it’s actually really good. It’s healthy for the industry, and it’s healthy competition.”

The spoils of the team’s acclaim, achieved while working with people he genuinely likes (yes, the group even hang out off air) and in a city he adores, is not lost on Acton.

“We’re lucky.” he said.

“Like any sort of friendship, you have your days where you argue but you look at someone in the eye at 4.30 in the morning, five days a week and tell me you’re not going to have an argument.

“But we resolve stuff pretty quickly, which is good, and you kind of realise the more fun you have the better it is.”

He reckons the key is that no one on the team is competing with each other.

“When you start to compete with the other people, I think that can really divide any friendship really or any relationship,” he said.

“You’ve got to be happy for their wins and they’re really happy for yours at the same time, so it just makes it easier.”

Acton said another major factor in his breakfast crew’s longevity was that the days of radio talent treating Brisbane as a “bridging city” – or a stepping stone to something bigger and better – were over. Presenters now treated it as a destination.

“It’s grown so massively – it’s on par with Sydney and Melbourne,” he said.

“People from the other states want to come here. There’s lots of big business here, it’s a beautiful place, the weather’s amazing. Then I think the other thing is, and this is what I realised, was that when you land in a place and you actually genuinely like it and things are going really well with the people that you’re with, you stop looking for the next. It makes such a difference. Brisbane is so great and it’s such a great place to live.”

The day he stops enjoying radio, though, is the day Acton says he will take a break. But for now, the natural fear of a career becoming monotonous is something he has easily avoided by branching out. Davidson, Coleman and Acton just released a children’s book called Bumble the Bum Stinger, something Acton is sure his high school teachers would not have predicted.

“So we used to have OP scores and the worst you could get is 25 and I got a 23,” he said,

“No one thought I would ever be part of writing the book. I don’t even think my mum was sure if I could spell my name when I finished school.”.

His social media stardom has exploded in recent years, amassing 275,000 followers on Instagram and 451,000 on TikTok, where he makes comedy videos impersonating his family, including his wife Esther, 42, son Zander, 11, and daughter Eden, 8. The videos, which frequently go viral and have led to brand deals and people recognising him as the dad who dresses up as his kids in the street. Acton, who also has 23-year-old son Ethan, said social platforms becoming a legitimate income stream was accidental.

“I didn’t start doing it to make money, it just sort of happened,” he said.

“If you do make an ad, you will get a comment like ‘you’re selling out’ but dude, I spend like months making all these free ones that you’ve enjoyed.

“This is just to supplement a little bit of that time.”

He believes his videos resonate with an older crowd in particular because he’s not sugar-coating life or parenthood.

“I sound like an old man, and maybe the younger people buy that fake influencing, but I just think it gets to a point in life where it doesn’t mean as much to you anymore and you’re like ‘that’s all bullshit’,” he said.

Acton also launched a podcast with Esther called Underaged Grandparents, which was born out of the barrage of questions the couple faced welcoming a granddaughter in their 30s when Ethan and wife Maddy had Illyria last year.

“We don’t mind talking about it and we’re really proud of our story and how we met and everything,” he said.

In fact, the pair met 20 years ago to the day when we sat down for lunch. Acton was 18 and Esther was 22 and she was already mum to Ethan, who was then three years old.

“We still really enjoy hanging out together and having each other’s company,” he said.

“I definitely love her more today than when we first met.”

Acton admits he’s quick to tears when it comes to family. He sobbed through Ethan and Maddy’s wedding and again when he met Illyria.

“She’s got such big beautiful eyes,” he said.

“The coolest thing has been seeing Ethan become a dad. Every Wednesday night is our family dinner night. I love it when everyone’s in the house and then I look around. I’m like ‘this is actually really cool’.”

Underaged Grandparents has proven to be “like therapy” for the couple, who often just spring topics on each other while recording – from issues they’re having to pop culture.

Having worked in radio his entire adult life, Acton said Esther has a certain understanding that nothing is necessarily off limits. Esther, after all, has been there for him through the highest highs and the lowest lows, from losing his dad at 21 to lung cancer, to moving across the country for his career.
While life is currently proving to be gloriously chaotic for the couple, they’re in the perfect place.

“We are in a good flow. There are always people ‘oh you get up really early’ (for breakfast radio) and yeah, that does suck but I’m done at lunchtime and I get to pick up the kids from school and coach Zander’s football team,” he said.

“I’m just enjoying that for as long as I can.”