Lisa, Karl, Jackie O, Kyle: behind the on-air chemistry

Amanda Keller has spoken about a rarely discussed part of the entertainment industry — when co-presenters fall out.

Karl Stefanovic and Lisa Wilkinson in action. Picture: Renee Nowytarger.

Lisa walks out on Karl, Jackie O storms out on Kyle. Two stars barely speak to each other off air. Such bust-ups between presenting partners are normally swept under the carpet by anxious publicists, but Amanda Keller has spoken out about a rarely dis­cussed part of the industry — when co-presenters fall out.

“Jonesy and I fight a lot, seriously we do. Usually it is about show things,” says Keller, who has presented a breakfast program with Brendan “Jonesy” Jones for 12 years on Sydney’s WSFM and before that with Andrew Denton on Triple M.

“It is show stuff that we fight about,” Keller tells The Australian’s new media podcast, Behind The Media, available for download online.

“But having said that, he and I have a very healthy and robust relationship because we have to resolve it.”

Typically, the pair clash over program segments. “Someone will say ‘do you think we should interview so and so?’ and he will go ‘Nup!’ and I say, ‘well let’s talk about it’ and he will say, ‘nup that won’t work’ and I will say, ‘well I love being on the Jonesy show’.”

Presenting partners are often compared with a married couple, but unlike domestics, radio and television hosts need to resolve their disputes, Keller says.

“When you are living with a partner — and I have been married for 27 years and particularly with the hours I do — you can argue with someone and it is never resolved.

“With Jonesy I fight far more than I ever do with my husband but we have to resolve it because we are in a tiny space and we have to turn the mics on.”

At their extremes, disputes between co-stars are written about when one presenter takes themselves off air.

The relationship between former Today program co-hosts Karl Stefanovic and Lisa Wilkinson, who left the show in October over pay equality, was subject to endless speculation, fuelled by sporadic incidents such as last year when Stefanovic accused Wilkinson of “double standards” over Princess Mary of Denmark firing a rifle as part of her royal duties.

The dispute was so awkward that Ben Fordham, also on the presenting panel, stepped in to ease the tension. “Lisa, in case you didn’t know, Karl lost the plot years ago, so don’t worry about it,” Fordham said.

“Very good point,” Wilkinson said. “Why am I even bothering to respond?”

Things were more serious back in 2014 when Wilkinson “left the set in tears” over a disagreement. She later commented: “We make no apology for the passion we both bring to the show.”

Recently Keller and Jones had a major disagreement when Jones revealed the comic end of a segment too early, spoiling Keller’s punchline.

“I was just so furious and he said ‘it doesn’t matter’ and I said ‘it did matter, I crafted it’. And when the mics came back on I could barely speak to him.”

Although the disagreements can spill beyond the end of their radio program, Keller and Jones have a pact to resolve differences before the next morning.

“We will text each other before going to bed and say ‘I will see you tomorrow, I’m still your friend’,” Keller says. “We seriously do. Because I wouldn’t be able to sleep going through the night thinking I have got to turn up tomorrow and we have an unresolved fight.”

In 2014 Jackie Henderson walked out on the Kyle and Jackie O breakfast program on KIISFM after calling out her co-host Kyle Sandilands over his frequent absences.

Sandilands immediately told listeners: “In the spirit of transparency I’d like everyone to know that during the news Jackie and I have had an argument and Jackie’s left,” Sandilands said on air. “Not going to go into why, how, when, who said what, what happened ... she’s not here.”

Henderson returned to work the next day.

But hosts can also display solidarity. Earlier this year KIIS FM drive host Dave Hughes revealed that he took a pay cut to ensure pay parity with co-host Kate Langbroek after she revealed during their drive program that the comedian was paid 40 per cent more than she was.

When the pair move to the Hit network next year they will be paid the same.