Brigitte Duclos was axed but co-host Lehmo survived

Brigitte Duclos has relived her gut-wrenching sacking in favour of a younger presenter and how she still doesn’t know why it happened.

Brigitte Duclos has opened up about her brutal radio sacking, admitting it is still traumatising to think about her ruthless dismissal from GOLD FM.

Duclos said they removed the “old from GOLD” when she was suddenly given her marching orders in November 2015 after that day’s show with co-host Anthony “Lehmo” Lehmann.

“I thought it was all going along swimmingly,’’ Duclos tells the Sacked: Showbiz podcast.

“If you get sacked as a team, it’s one thing, to take one person out of a team it’s so hard to get your head around. So gut-wrenching. That’s what was difficult about it and I didn’t see it coming.

Brigitte Duclos and Anthony “Lehmo” Lehmann.

“It was tough and all the movement had been done around stations. And suddenly it was Christmas and I had two kids in school and no job. I never planned for it, which was dumb on my part but I had such a lucky run I never thought about it.

“It was incredibly brutal and my only beef with it is probably that. This happens in life but I think the way in which it happened was bad. We’d done a show and they’d offered me a contract and I was just waiting for my manager to come back from overseas and I was going to sign it.”

Duclos said she still doesn’t know the reason why she was let go after six years alongside Lehmo at MIX FM and GOLD FM.

“We did the show, had the post show meeting, then I got called in and they said we don’t want you anymore,’’ she said.

“I said ‘what, I have a contract’. They said things have changed. Just things and we’d like you to leave now. That’s how brutal it was.

“I literally walked out and to think we had the show meeting for the next day is astounding in itself. I walked out and I never got to say goodbye to the listeners, they become like your family, it was really hard.

“I felt really terrible not being able to say goodbye to them. I never said goodbye to anyone in the building. I think there were better ways and nicer ways. I still don’t actually know what I did wrong. I think they were taking the old out of GOLD to be honest.

Duclos was replaced in her job alongside Anthony Lehmann with Jo Stanley.

“They replaced me with Jo Stanley, who is younger and also was a lot more socially connected. I wasn’t great on social media. I wonder now still to this day whether that was why. Now I look back and I think, just be very grateful I had such a good long career. But still traumatised a bit when I think about it.”

Duclos said she lost confidence and her identity after the sacking.

“I never wanted to be one of those people who got sacked and felt sorry for themselves but I did feel sorry for myself,’’ she said.

“It was scary and I lost a lot of confidence. It took me a couple of years really, because you go out and everyone (mentions it) and the whole thing was awful.

“But I should never complain, because I do realise I had 30 years and that’s very lucky. The way they did Dee Dee (Dunleavy’s sacking) was awful too but I look back and I think, good on you girl. I just think there are ways of doing things and there’s got to be a little bit of respect for people and I never really knew why.”

Brigitte Duclos and Dee Dee Dunleavy. Picture: Julie Kiriacoudis

As for Lehmo, she said he was shocked but had to get on with the job.

“He rang me straight away and he was shocked and devastated. But he had his own life to consider,’’ she said.

“I wonder often how if that had happened the other way around, you’d like to think you storm in and go no no no. But Lehmo and I are great friends and we’ve had the chance to work together again which is nice. He was upset but he had to keep going because in our industry it’s take what you can get. I felt sick and suddenly all the new billboards go up … The whole thing was just wow. If I was to be honest now I do think it was traumatising.”

The hardest thing for Duclos was facing her family.

“The biggest problem I had was telling my kids. I grew up with them knowing me on radio, I felt I lost my identity a bit. It gave me an opportunity to do stuff I’ve never done before. Now I look back and I have no regrets. I couldn’t have had a longer happier career up until then.”