Kyle Sandilands on Toorak househunts, radio ratings, granny boosts and why he still doesn’t like footy

Radio’s most controversial figure Kyle Sandilands is back in Melbourne and has opened up on Toorak househunts, the surprise group of listeners keeping his plan for local radio domination alive and why he can’t be bothered with footy.

Radio controversy king, Kyle Sandilands has revealed he has been “scanning around” houses in Toorak.

Sandilands, who is at St Kilda on Friday for The Kyle & Jackie O Show’s $5 million listener ‘Dig’, said his delving into the Melbourne real estate market was motivated by his wife.

“I have looked at houses because a lot of (his wife) Tegan’s friends moved here,” Sydney- based Sandilands said.

“I said ‘maybe we should just buy a house in Melbourne so we can go backwards and forwards there’, because I like buying houses.

“So I started scanning around and I was like ‘look how cheap the houses are in Melbourne, even in Toorak they are cheap’.

“Compared to Sydney it is ridiculous. It is amazing. So I have been looking around.

“Then I wanted to renovate and she (Tegan) is over renovation because we are currently renovating three houses, well she is, and I just get to see a tile every now and again.

“We have not bought anything or even looked (in person), but I am on realestate.com.au all the time just scanning.”

Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson are looking for a ratings boost in Melbourne this year. Picture: ARN

Sandilands’ long awaited Melbourne visit, his first since The Kyle & Jackie O Show started broadcasting into the KIIS Melbourne breakfast shift, comes as the program’s one year anniversary on April 29 approaches.

He landed on a Virgin flight, not a private jet, on Thursday afternoon and was stopped by about 30 or 40 people asking for selfies as he made his way out of the airport.

“I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t feel hated, I feel welcomed’,” he said.

“Walking to the car, one lady was walking the other way and she did the double take, so I looked and smiled and she went ‘Hmph’, but it was one of those types with the coloured hair and the boxy fringe and frumpy clothes, the normal person who is not my cup of tea and I am obviously not theirs.

“Of the 30 or 40 who were very nice and wanted photos, just one person ruined it.”

More than one person in Melbourne, however, has taken issue with his KIIS offering in the past year.

The show’s first 12 months have been a wild ride, plagued with controversy, criticism, outraged headlines and much lower than expected ratings.

“Being at the bottom of the pile is not something I am used to,” Sandilands said.

Kyle Sandilands has opened up about ratings, Melbourne and his health. Pic: Mark Stewart

He had predicted the show would top the FM ratings at the end of last year, however it finished in eighth place in the breakfast rankings and rated a 5.1 share in the first ratings survey of 2025.

“The equation is that it takes at least two years (for a show) to get proper traction,” he said.

“I might have been a little bit up myself thinking ‘we will nail that in five weeks’ - that did not happen.”

Adding to the drama, the show has also been the subject of complaints to the Australian Communications and Media Authority with the watchdog last month finding Kyle & Jackie O had breached decency rules during a broadcast in June 2024.

The ACMA has two further investigations underway into the show.

Sandilands revealed he had twice written to ACMA Chair Nerida O’Loughlin asking for a meeting.

Kyle Sandilands with his wife Tegan and son Otto. Picture: Instagram

Kyle Sandilands and son Otto. Picture: Instagram

“I wanted to come and talk about the state of the radio industry versus podcasting and the government oversight on free-to-air radio versus anyone can be putting fingers into any hole they want on podcasts and no one seems to care about what age (is listening), (and that) kids are getting bullied to death on social media, but what they are worried about is me doing some dick jokes on the radio,” he said.

“They won’t see me….. it is disappointing.”

Sandilands said his show was not as “freaksville” as it had been in 2024 and he had reined in the profane content.

“I do understand some people, especially if they are new listeners, might have thought ‘holy sh*t, what is this?’,” he said.

“The last couple of months I think it has been very much on track where it is supposed to be, still a bit edgy, but we are pretty happy where it is right now.”

But while some things have changed, others haven’t, like his disinterest in AFL.

“I don’t pay any attention to any sport,” he said.

“I don’t enjoy watching men run around on the grass in tight shorts. I know some people do, but that is not my vibe.”

Kyle Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson have faced criticism for the profane content on their KIIS breakfast show. Picture: Facebook

Surprisingly, Sandilands said his KIIS show in Melbourne was experiencing a spike from an unexpected demographic that was giving it a “granny boost”.

“I can’t quite put my fingers on where we are getting these 65-year-old females (listeners) from, but they are all a bit loose, they have a laugh, they are characters and you can tell they have good senses of humour,” he said.

“A granny boost I call it. I don’t know how, I don’t know why, maybe I am their type.”

And he said he was confident the broader Melbourne audience was growing.

“When I am looking at the phone box, that is where all the calls come flooding in (to the studio), there are more calls coming through from Melbourne than there are coming through from Sydney in the last couple of weeks,” he said.

“They (the callers) are people who get the humour and get involved in the show. Melbourne (callers) are really starting to catch on, they are getting involved in the carry on and the hijinks.”

The Kyle & Jackie O Show took a surprise turn with their advertising in January. Picture: Supplied

Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson’s 10 year mega bucks deal with KIIS FM began this year. Picture: Supplied.

Having been diagnosed with a brain aneurysm earlier this year, Sandilands said his doctors were monitoring his condition.

“Not dead yet,” was his response when asked about his health.

“They (his doctor) did say it needs to be addressed straight away but when they realised it was a bit more intricate and glued on to a few more tentacles and blood vessels, the surgeon said to me there was an 18 per cent chance of me having a stroke just doing the procedure.”