Jackie ‘O’ Henderson’s candid dating reveal as radio star opens up about private life

Jackie ‘O’ Henderson may seem like she’s been living her best life, but the radio star has candidly admitted this isn’t always the case behind closed doors.

Jackie ‘O’ Henderson might seem like she has it all, but the queen of Australian radio has admitted to feeling “lonely” at times.

Speaking at a book launch in Sydney Thursday night, the KIIS FM co-host shared how she’s felt “desperate” to find love, having been single since her 2018 split from husband Lee Henderson, with whom she shares 12-year-old daughter, Kitty.

“I just really want to find someone. I can’t find him and I’m sort of a bit lost at the moment,” she told former Bachelorette star Luke McLeod at the launch of his new book Everyday Enlightenment.

“I have a lot of love to give or I want that affection, that company. It just feels like there’s something missing in my life.”

Jackie was married to Lee for 15 years.

Henderson, who is close friends with McLeod, recalled the author giving her some harsh but friendly advice during a lunch catch-up they had last year, in which he told her she was giving off “desperate energy”.

“I said to [McLeod], ‘How am I meant to change what I want and need? I feel like I need that in my life and I really want that. I can’t just switch that off’,” Henderson, 49, candidly told the crowd.

Jackie ‘O’ admitted she was "desperate" to find love at Luke McLeod’s book launch. Picture: Instagram/jackieo

After heeding McLeod’s advice to her in the months since that conversation – in which he told her to focus on being grateful for her blessings – Henderson said she was in a much better place of late.

“I’m at a place where I’ve almost gone the other way,” she said. “I’m so happy being single and not looking for someone because I’m genuinely happy with my life.”

Henderson sparked dating rumours in August last year with 29-year-old tradesman and model Jack Tyerman, after the pair were spotted enjoying a glass of wine on the balcony of her eastern suburbs mansion.

Jack Tyerman was rumoured to be dating Henderson in August last year. Picture: Stefan Gosatti/Getty Images for AAFW

But Henderson poured cold water on the rumours. Picture: James D. Morgan/Getty Images

Addressing speculation about their romance on the Kyle and Jackie O Show shortly after reports emerged, Henderson insisted they were “just friends”.

“No, Jack is not my boyfriend. We’re not in a relationship. He is not my boy toy,” Henderson told her co-host Kyle Sandilands.

“Jack is a good friend of mine. I know him through a friend of ours. We didn’t meet on a dating app or anything like that.”

Henderson had earlier joined the dating app Hinge, which she revealed on-air in May.

“I can’t go out all the time. I don’t want to do that. This is just easier [to meet men]. I want to have some fun. I want to go out on a date here and there,” she said at the time.

As for what she’s looking for in a man, Henderson shared how she wanted an “honest, deep, open, beautiful relationship full of respect and understanding.”

Originally published as Jackie ‘O’ Henderson’s candid dating reveal as radio star opens up about private life