Sean ‘Flan’ Flanagan back on Gold Coast airwaves

Broadcaster Sean Flanagan will be back on air this month with a rival network after leaving his long-running Hot Tomato gig. Now he’s revealed the inside story of what really happened.

POPULAR broadcaster Sean Flanagan left his long-running gig with Hot Tomato because of “family and whether or not you can pay your bills”.

He will return to the airwaves at the end of the month for rival network Triple M after employment opportunities outside the industry dried up because of coronavirus.

The 55-year-old left Southport-based Hot Tomato late last year after 14 years on air.

Flan says he was never unhappy at the station but left for personal reasons. He insists there was no bad blood.

“(Hot Tomato) were very gracious and I owe them a great deal, but at the end of the day it’s about your family and whether or not you can pay the bills,” he said.

Sean 'Flan' Flanagan. Photo: Southern Cross Austereo.

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“Paul Gale and I were really good friends and I was super happy for him to have my job.”

When he left Hot Tomato, Flanagan planned to start his own business and worked part-time for American company Mediapro. Then COVID hit, preventing him from travelling internationally.

“(Retired) was never a word I used,” he laughed.

“I was literally just changing jobs and changing industries.

“People may have thought that, fair enough, (but) I never defined it that way.

“When COVID cancelled international travel, I really needed a job and Triple M were there.”

When asked if he had been offered a new gig at Hot Tomato, he said: “I’m going to be a politician and say that’s a hypothetical question”.

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Hot Tomato’s Flan & Emily Jade with Christo in 2017.

“I don’t know. The honest answer is there could have been a bidding war, and it would have come down to that I suppose, but I never really think of things in those terms.

“Most people in my position, having an offer from a new company, would have shopped it around and went to Hot Tomato to say ‘hey’.

“I have a historic connection with both Hot Tomato and Triple M.

“It’s a bit like cheering for (AFL teams) Gold Coast Suns and St Kilda. You sort of hope for the best for everyone.”

Flan will be joining Bridget “Bridge” Daley and Peter “Spida” Everitt at 92.5 Triple M from August 31.

Ben Wood, who joined the Bridge and Spida show as a co-host in February 2019 but was never added to the title, will continue as anchor.

Daley said in a text: “I have lots of respect for Flan — professionally and personally — and just think he’s a radio guru ... or maybe a Buddha.”

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92.5 Triple M Gold Coast’s Bridget Daley and Spida Everitt. Picture: Jerad Williams

Bridge and Spida will be on air 5am-9am each weekday, but Flanagan will get an extra hour of sleep.

“I said I would (come back) but I certainly wouldn’t be getting out of bed before 5am,” he said.

“I’m super happy about the job offer. It’s a nice fit for me.

“I love the music, I think it sounds really hot. I can go sell that. I’ve got something to believe in and start again.”

Flanagan’s former mates and Hot Tomato hosts left him a message on Monday: “God love him. Radio is how he feeds the family so we wish him all the best.”