By Jessica McSweeney and Brittany Busch
Radio shock jock Kyle Sandilands says he will undergo urgent brain surgery after revealing he is suffering from a brain aneurysm.
Sandilands, who hosts the popular KIIS FM breakfast show with co-host Jackie O Henderson, was missing on Friday due to illness. He told his listeners on Monday morning he had been diagnosed after a period of significant headaches.
Kyle Sandilands revealed his diagnosis on air on Monday.Credit: KIIS
“I was told by my medical team, which sounds like I’m already very sick – to have a medical team – that I have a brain aneurysm, and it requires immediate attention, brain surgery,” he said.
“So if you just tuned in to us after all these years, lap it up. And if you’re in Melbourne, you’re coming to the party too late. You may get your wish. I may be dead.”
The 53-year-old showed colleagues the pictures of his brain scan, pointing out the aneurysm.
“If that bursts, I die instantly.”
A brain aneurysm is a bulge in an artery in the brain, caused by a weak spot in the artery wall. Professor of medicine at the University of Melbourne and clinical neurologist Professor Bernard Yan said many aneurysms did not have symptoms, but if one were to burst, it would create a headache – likened to a thunderclap in the brain – which could cause permanent disability or death.
“Some of our patients complain that it’s almost like being hit over the head by a cricket bat. It’s that kind of intensity – a very, very severe headache,” he said.
Sandilands did not say when he would be undergoing surgery but said he expects to take up to eight weeks off from radio.
“My wife, every time I look at her, her eyes well up with tears. She is already counting down the days,” he said.
“The facts are a life of cocaine abuse and partying are not the way to go.”
Sandilands shared the news by making light of the situation, joking that his doctors have banned him from sex and taking drugs.
It comes just months after Henderson revealed on air her own health struggle – that she was in recovery from addiction to painkillers. Henderson, 50, said she had been to rehab for dependence on codeine, sleeping pills and Panadeine Forte, of which she had been taking dozens at a time.
Sandilands and Henderson have been on air together for nearly 20 years. Their most recent venture – entering the Melbourne radio market – hasn’t come with the listener numbers the duo had hoped for.
The KIIS breakfast show plummeted from third to eighth biggest in the market as the controversial pair took over the slot, dropping to a 5 per cent market share at the end of 2024 after signing a deal reportedly worth more than $200 million to keep them at the station for the next 10 years.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority has found the show has repeatedly breached radio decency rules.
Sandilands declined to comment.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.