Lauren Phillips and Jase Hawkins get Nova lifeline to take on Kyle and Jackie O
Dumped radio hosts Lauren Phillips and Jase Hawkins have been thrown a lifeline and will go head-to-head with their Sydney-based replacements, Kyle and Jackie O.
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Lauren Phillips and Jase Hawkins are returning to the breakfast airwaves to take on their Sydney rivals, with their radio careers given a new lifeline after they were brutally sacked from KIIS FM late last year.
Get ready to rumble!
The duo will now go head-to-head with their slick, flashy KIIS replacements Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O Henderson (if they ever hit the Victorian airwaves), when they lead the new Nova breakfast line-up.
Making the announcement on Friday, the Jase and Lauren show will replace the Nova network’s current brekkie format Ben, Liam and Belle, who came in after the popular Chrissy Sam and Browny show with Chrissie Swan, Sam Pang and Jonathon Brown wrapped up.
Keeping up?
Page 13 has always maintained the cutthroat world of radio contracts and musical microphone chairs is not for the faint-hearted.
Now get ready for war.
“I’m beyond excited to be joining the Nova family,” Lauren said in a statement.
The pair was left devastated after being told just hours before going on air in November that their KIIS FM show was being axed to make room for The Kyle and Jackie O Show.
A teary Philips broke the news to listeners at the time saying that they “didn’t have a choice” and that it “certainly was not the way we wanted to bow out”.
Despite the unexpected time off-air, newly engaged Phillips managed to make the most of the situation but says she’s excited to get back to doing what she loves.
“I’ve been a longtime fan of the station and to be joining Nova 100 really is a dream come true.”
Hawkins joked that he’s thrilled to not be unemployed anymore.
“I’m wrapped to have a job again. I’m even more over the moon that we get to join Nova,” he said.
“My whole career, I have always wanted to be a part of this network, it’s the perfect fit for Loz and I. So, I’m sorry Nova, we’re never leaving. Melbourne, we’re back. So join us and come over to Nova.”
The current Nova breakfast trio Ben, Liam & Belle, will move to host a brand new national show on the Nova network, ‘Late Drive’, from 6-8pm weekdays.
“Ben, Liam and Belle are an incredibly talent hosting team and we knew they had great potential when they joined the Nova Network straight from Triple J’s national breakfast show back in 2020,” Brendon Taylor, group programming director for the Nova Network said.
“Lauren and Jase are world-class radio broadcasters and their track record speaks for itself,” he said.
“As hosts of the second-highest rating show in Melbourne, we knew their blend of humour, honesty and chemistry would feel right at home on the Nova network.”
Over at the current top rating FM breakfast show at Fox, the Fifi, Fev and Nick show’s Brendan Fevola has been pontificating about the changes in the radio landscape — and will now be up against both duos.
“It doesn’t affect us, we’re fine,” Fevola said.
“We’ve got the most listeners in Melbourne so I don’t feel that’s going to affect us at all.
“Great show, great product, we’ve been together for a long time now and we’ll just keep doing what we’re doing.”
The battle lines have been drawn.
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