Ali Clarke’s teary goodbye to Mix 102.3: ‘I don’t want to leave now’
Ali Clarke has left Mix 102.3’s breakfast program after three years. Here’s what she had to say to her listeners on her last show and her choice for her final song.
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Ali Clarke experienced the spectrum of emotions as she farewelled her Mix 102.3 colleagues and listeners for the last time.
The mum-of-three signed off on Friday, just days after announcing her decision to leave Max and Ali in the Morning.
Taylor Swift’s Love Story played just before Clarke said her on-air goodbye, by “going rogue” and playing House of Pain’s Jump Around.
“You make us laugh and you make us cry,” she told listeners, saying local radio was “so important” to the community.
Clarke also paid tribute to Burford and everyone behind the scenes at Mix 102.3 saying she was “so damn proud” of them, adding they were the real stars of the show.
“To our listeners, you are amazing, you are kind and considerate,” she added.
The final show for 2024 also included a year in review segment. It featured highlights, such as Clarke and Burford granting a wish for Adelaide boy Sammy, who has an inoperable brain tumour.
The eight-year-old wanted to be a police officer and, with help from Police Commissioner Grant Stevens, singer Guy Sebastian and others, they made his dream come true in Rundle Mall.
Clarke also played other songs of her choice, such as This Is Me by Keala Settle from The Greatest Showman, and celebrated her celebrity crush Hugh Jackman.
Burford played messages from listeners, one of whom thanked Clarke for being “unapologetically you”, while another broke down in tears saying, “I’m really going to miss you”.
Clarke responded by saying it was a “privilege” to have connected with them, becoming emotional as she added, “I don’t want to leave now”.
“You guys are the reason why we do it … I am going to miss every single one of you,” she said.
Earlier this year Clarke announced on-air that she had breast cancer, becoming an advocate for raising awareness of the disease, which affects one in seven Australian women during their lifetime and one in 556 men.
She has since had two mastectomies and on Monday announced her decision to leave Max and Ali in the Morning.
“I was offered the opportunity to continue on, and it’s really hard to say no to something like that because I love this,” Clarke told listeners.
Clarke was Mix 102.3’s breakfast presenter for three years. She was previously with ABC Adelaide and has also worked for other commercial stations.
At the 2023 Australian Commercial Radio Awards (ACRAs) The Ali Clarke Breakfast Show, as Max and Ali in the Morning was known at the time, won the award for best community campaign for a station for ‘Mel Dzelde Rescue: The Spirit of Christmas’.
Max & Ali in the Morning finished in fifth spot in the breakfast timeslot in the most recent radio ratings. Mix 102.3 Adelaide’s No. 1 station overall for the second consecutive survey.
While there have been rumours that the local breakfast show would be replaced by a syndicated Kyle & Jackie O, when Clarke announced she was leaving it was confirmed that Burford would be staying.
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Originally published as Ali Clarke’s teary goodbye to Mix 102.3: ‘I don’t want to leave now’
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