Jackie “O” Henderson reveals daughter Kitty, 12, had panic attack during ACRAs ceremony

The popular radio personality was nowhere to be seen at the ACRAs afterparty because her daughter Kitty, 12, needed medical attention.

All eyes were on Jackie “O” Henderson as she arrived at the Australian Commercial Radio Awards (ACRA) red carpet over the weekend, wearing a hot pink minidress.

But the popular radio personality was nowhere to be seen at the afterparty because her 12-year-old daughter Kitty, who was her date for the evening, suffered a medical incident at the ceremony and was taken to the hospital emergency department.

Henderson explained her afterparty absence this morning on The Kyle & Jackie O Show, telling co-host Kyle Sandilands that Kitty suffered a mini panic attack after feeling overwhelmed at the ceremony held inside the International Convention Centre in Sydney’s Darling Harbour.

Jackie “O” Henderson looked stunning at the ACRAs on October 14, 2023. Picture: Media-Mode

She brought her daughter Kitty along as her date. Picture: Media-Mode

At the awards, the KIIS program won Best Networked Show and naturally Henderson and the team went up on stage to receive the award. It was then that Kitty began to feel uneasy, said Henderson.

Sandilands, who did not attend the event as he was filming Australian Idol elsewhere in Sydney, asked Henderson why Kitty was at the event in the first place, let alone up on stage.

“Kitty came up as well because, you know, she’s part of the KIIS team at times,” the proud mum said.

“She comes in and helps out. She loves it and she loves the team here, and she knows them all so well.”

Kitty was on hand to celebrate the team’s ACRAs win.

Henderson gave the acceptance speech on behalf of her KIIS team.

When the KIIS team were announced the winners in their category, Henderson said the staff urged Kitty to go up on stage with them, where executive producer Pedro Vitola lifted her up onto his shoulders so she could see the crowd better. And that’s where she got caught up in the atmosphere, said Henderson.

“Twelve year olds don't want anyone, crowds looking at them. They’re self conscious,” she said on air.

“So I think she had a little moment of like, ‘Oh my god, everyone’s looking at me. I gotta get down.’ And she hadn’t eaten much that day either.”

Henderson said it got worse as the group went backstage after their win to take photos at the media wall.

“So when we got off stage, we were all travelling from point A to point B to get the photo taken at the photo wall when you get an award,” the radio host recalled.

“And all the guys, like 25 of them, are chanting. It’s loud, they’re all excited. It was kind of hectic, and I think Kitty was almost about to faint and then sort of have a bit of a panic [attack].”

Celebrating backstage with the KIIS crew.

Daughter Kitty (right) felt overwhelmed after the win.

The mum-of-one said she didn’t realise Kitty was overwhelmed as she wasn’t directly next to her at the time. But after seeing her daughter later, she knew something was not right.

“Kitty had a bit of a panic attack and so, to cut a long story short, I ended up taking her to the emergency,” Henderson shared.

“I took her myself. I just wanted to get her checked, just in case, and she was fine. So that’s why I didn’t go to the afterparty.”

The win at the ACRAs caps off a massive year for Henderson. This year, she embarked on a healthier lifestyle and launched her own event-based business called Besties with her best friend Gemma O’Neill.

“This has been such a big year for me,” Jackie told news.com.au on the red carpet.

“I feel like for once I’m having this year where I can look back and go, ‘2023 was so much fun and so much happened’, so I do feel that good energy around me.”