Mick Molloy to launch new breakfast radio show on Triple M

He’s been a public figure and survivor in the brutal world of radio for 35 years. Now, Mick Molloy is ready to take on Kyle and Jackie O as Melbourne’s breakfast radio wars heat up.

He’s been a public figure, an open book, a success story and survivor in the brutal world of radio for 35 years.

However, away from the microphone, Mick Molloy guards his privacy fiercely.

He is especially protective of those closest to him; his twins Fred and Lenny, now 12, their mother, and his partner, Kim, who Molloy has been dating for four years.

But Molloy forgot his own golden rule when, in May last year, he posted to social media pictures of a dinner gathering, with Kim by his side.

“I put her picture on Instagram, and I — Dopey — didn’t understand the ramifications. Apparently, that was a hard launch,” Molloy says, laughing.

“We got papped once and I felt for her. It’s those times I get protective. I’ve been papped eating a burrito, but I’m big enough and ugly enough to look after myself. I’ve chosen the spotlight, and I don’t bring anyone else into it, who doesn’t want to be there.”

Triple M’s new breakfast team Mick Molloy, Rosie Walton, Titus O'Reily and Nick Riewoldt. Picture: Benny Capp

On Monday, Molloy, 58, will return to the spotlight he knows so well — Melbourne breakfast radio on Triple M — to helm in a new program alongside comedic writer Titus O’Reily, AFL legend Nick Riewoldt, and the station’s longtime voice of reason, Rosie Walton.

The show, Mick In The Morning with Roo, Titus & Rosie, follows a distinguished list of radio hits including The D Generation Breakfast Show, with Rob Sitch, Tom Gleisner, Santo Cilauro, Judith Lucy and Kevin Hillier; Martin Molloy, with Tony Martin; Hot Breakfast, with Eddie McGuire, Luke Darcy and Walton; and Kennedy Molloy, with Jane Kennedy.

It also follows Molloy co-hosting a breakfast radio show in Sydney for two years. He is also co-host of Channel 7’s AFL panel show, The Front Bar.

“I’m like Triple M’s Paul Roos. I go where they need me,” Molloy says. “I genuinely loved Sydney, but there was just a call to come home. I’m a product of Melbourne and I love the conversations here.”

Molloy hopes the show is “fun, informative and Melbourne”, adding: “I want it to be smart, and address things that are important to people who live in this town.”

Molloy says he loves the conversations in Melbourne. Picture: Benny Capp

Earlier this month, he, Riewoldt, O’Reily and Walton booked studio time to test their connection and banter.

“It felt like we’d been doing it for years,” Molloy says. “You can’t manufacture chemistry and we’ve seen radio stations try it over many years. Some have failed, some have worked, but our chemistry was spot on. It was natural.”

Molloy will also resurface on Melbourne breakfast radio with an interesting new trait: energetic morning person and early riser.

What’s changed?

“Kids, and also lifestyle,” Molloy answers. “I can’t do a double header anymore. If I’m out after 3am, it’s tears. It’s just biology. That’s the difference. And it suits me now.

“We’ve got proper jobs, day jobs like radio and The Front Bar, so it actually helps to be up and ‘em bright and early. It’s cute to stay out until 5 in the morning when you’re 24. In your late 50s, it’s not as much fun, or enjoyable to watch.

“I was never a morning person. I was always nocturnal,” Molloy says. “But there’s something about getting to bed before midnight that agrees with me.”

Molloy with former co-hosts Eddie McGuire and Luke Darcy.

His boys, Fred and Lenny, start high school next year. He co-parents the twins with their mother.

“It’s a very adult arrangement,” Molloy says. “They stay with me when they need to, They stay with their mum when they need to. But it works perfectly, and they’re very happy and normal kids. They’ve got two parents who love them very much.”

Molloy says parenthood has changed him dramatically, and for the better.

“It’s so good not being the most important part of your own life,” he says. “It takes a lot of pressure off when you’ve got something more important than you to think about, look after, and plan for. I’m so grateful.”

At home, Molloy also appreciates another pursuit. He enjoys and buys art.

His collection includes works by noted Australian artists Reko Rennie, Tony Albert, Ben Quilty, and Kaylene Whiskey.

“If I can spot the odd bargain, it’s not a bad investment, you know what I mean?” Molloy says. “You can put money into shares in Microsoft, or you can buy something that you can enjoy everyday by looking at it and hopefully, it will increase in value.”

He adds: “Golf clubs and art are my investments and I get to enjoy them both. For me, a great painting is a moment in time, and it gives me joy.”

Molloy with former radio partner Tony Martin.

Molloy is ready to return to radio, his favourite medium, and all the fun, immediacy and pressure of the role.

“I’ve been sacked by most TV networks, and I’ve had some very brutal conversation in radio,” Molloy says. “Because you’re being tested so often, you don’t get to relax a lot. Everyone’s on the edge of their seats, and no-one wants to take the blame.

“If ratings go down, it’s the music, or you don’t have enough women listening between 6 and 7. We could do this all day, and radio stations have become very good at showing you why things are a lot better than the ratings suggest.

“But there is a brutality there. You’re not going to die wondering. You get enough feedback and messaging across the board to know where you’re going.”

In Sydney, his breakfast radio show went head-to-head with Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O. “They are absolutely heavyweights. They own that town,” Molloy says.

But Melbourne, where Kyle and Jackie O’s syndicated breakfast radio show has struggled since launching last year, is a different battleground.

“They’re very good broadcasters, and they’ve proven that over a long period of time, but are they right for Melbourne? It’s very hard to do network breakfast show,” Molloy says. “Melbourne and Sydney are very different cities. I think they’ve got their work cut out for them.”

Molloy’s Sydney show went head to head with Kyle and Jackie O.

Of course, Molloy wants his new radio show to be successful. But, even after 35 years in the game, he is still confused by the vagaries of the radio ratings system.

“I know it’s eight surveys and someone fills out a form somewhere,” Molloy says. “I don’t know who gets it, I don’t know if they do workplace, I don’t know if they do building sides, I don’t know if our listeners have the patience to sit down and fill one of those things out.

“What I do understand is, if you’ve got the confidence of big advertisers, they know where their bread is buttered. That is important to me, and what comes down the speakers.

“All you have control over is, creating something that people want to listen to. If I go to the football, or I’m walking down the street, I can tell the level of interest, and who’s listening.

“I know that’s not anecdotal or precise, but I’ve always understood how we’re going by people’s general reaction to me.

“Anyway,” Molloy adds, “I think we’ve got a great team and a real shot at shaking the tree in Melbourne.”