Heartbreaking moment radio host knew best mate ‘wasn’t OK’

Radio duo Will and Woody have been best mates since they were in school. But there was one moment that changed their relationship forever.

Will McMahon, one half of KIIS FM radio duo Will & Woody, has long been open about his mental health struggles.

In 2019, the pair made global headlines with a video entitled “Best mates sit down for a heart to heart about depression” that quickly went viral. In it, Will described to colleague and friend Woody Whitelaw what it was like inside his head during moments of depression, and the pair discussed the impact of his illness on their friendship and working relationship.

The video, lauded for destigmatising conversations about mental health among men, became a launch pad for a suite of mental health initiatives spearheaded by the duo, including the release of an app that allows people share their moods with friends and family in a non-confronting way, aiming to spark conversations about mental wellbeing.

But before that video was even conceived of, there was a moment between the two best mates that Woody says he’ll never forget - the moment he first learnt what Will was going through.

“We were working in Perth, doing breakfast show hours,” he told news.com.au’s Andrew Bucklow on today’s episode of the From the Newsroom podcast.

“And I probably saw on him that maybe he was a bit off, or you know, was a bit quieter that day. He went straight home afterwards, and I can remember going over to his house, and he was trying to explain to me that he couldn’t get off the bed.

“It was a pretty confronting interaction, you know,” he continued.

“I was seeing my mate with red eyes from crying, effectively saying that he physically was unable to get off the bed.”

Woody says that, due to his lack of understanding of what depression really was at the time, his first instinct was to make a joke.

“My response to him was, ‘mate, I get it. This one time before going to school, I had this massive pimple on my bum and I also couldn’t get off the bed cause I was just feeling really bad about this pimple on my arse,” he said.

“Thankfully, Will laughed at my attempt to understand what he was going through, and when I look back on it, I think one of the key things that you can do for someone who is going through a depressive episode is just being there.

“You don’t have to solve it for them,” Woody continued.

“You don’t have to immediately rip them out of it. It’s just like, I’m here, and you can stay depressed and you can stay sad, but I’m physically here with you. If you can also get a little giggle out of them, then I think you’re doing a pretty good thing.”

Understanding how to have conversations around mental health in the midst of a national crisis is central to news.com.au’s Can We Talk? campaign.

Research from News Corp’s Growth Distillery with Medibank found almost half of Australians acknowledge they lacked the necessary tools or knowledge to effectively engage in conversation when approached by someone to discuss their mental health.

For Will, he credits that support network with saving his life.

“I’ve been fortunate,” he shares.

“I got lucky. I remember there was one night I was in living in Perth and I was driving to the beach with some very silly ideas in my head and a car full of booze. Luckily, a friend called me and she picked up on me that things weren’t right, and I admitted to her what I was going to the beach to think about doing.”

Will also acknowledges the difficulty in opening up.

“She read it on me that I wasn’t OK, I didn’t originally tell her that, I was trying to hide it,” he admits.

“I look back on that moment and think to myself, it’s very easy for me to sit here and say to people, you know, talk about how you’re feeling and talk about what’s going on, when I know that it’s the last thing you want to do.”

KIIS FM's popular drive duo Will & Woody have been mates for decades, but their relationship has only become closer and more supportive since Will opened up about his depression. Picture: Supplied/KIIS FM/ARN

News Corp and Medibank’s research suggests that in terms of initiating the conversation themselves, not wanting to be a burden to others is by far the biggest barrier that holds Australians back from talking about mental wellbeing. Will understands all too well.

“It feels like a catch 22: the thing that you know is gonna get you out of (depression) is telling someone, sharing your load,” he said.

“But that is the hardest thing to do in the world because the way that depression works is that you feel like you are a burden. You feel like you are not worthy of people’s love, so you don’t want to tell them what is going on with you.

“As a result, you bury it deeper and it gets worse, and it gets worse and it gets worse. So it’s this perfect, horrific cycle that self-perpetuates and is the reason that suicide is the number one killer of men under the age of 60.”

The pair told Bucklow that since Will has opened up about his depression, their relationship has only become closer and more supportive.

“We went to the same school together and, you know, every single guy that’s ever grown up as a teenager with someone else, you’re guaranteed that (the relationship and communication) is grounded initially in some pretty stereotypical laziness,” explains Will.

“But we went there with each other, we were like, OK, this is our life and this is the only relationship that we’re ever gonna have with each other. We can make this as good or as bad, or as beautiful, or as open or as simple as we like. And I think one of the benefits of me getting depression was that I had to open up completely to Woody, and vulnerability begets vulnerability. So then, naturally he opens up to me and then all of a sudden you’re sharing this beautiful space and your friendship.”

Will & Woody can be heard across The KIIS Network from 4-6pm weekdays and are launching their brand-new podcast We’ll Get to That next week. Get it on the free iHeart app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Originally published as Heartbreaking moment radio host knew best mate ‘wasn’t OK’