‘My jumping off a cliff moment’: ABC breakfast hosts Sharnelle Vella and Bob Murphy join the Melbourne radio wars
Newly in the ABC’s breakfast radio slot, Bob Murphy and Sharnelle Vella are gearing up to take on radio giants with a ‘shuttle launch’ approach.
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Former Western Bulldogs star Bob Murphy has described kicking off the new look ABC breakfast radio shift as like launching a space shuttle.
Murphy is teaming up with respected ex Channel 7 reporter Sharnelle Vella to host breakfast in the ferociously competitive and highly scrutinised Melbourne radio market, with their show lifting off on Monday, January 13.
They are shaping up against the likes of Kyle Sandilands, Mick Molloy, Fifi Box, and Lauren Phillips, Jase Hawkins and Clint Stanaway, as well as 3AW talk giants Ross Stevenson and Russel Howcroft.
“I feel naively ready,” Murphy said.
“You can do all the planning and go through all the scenarios, but it is a bit like a shuttle launch, at some point you have to lift off.”
Vella said she was excited to be “jumping off a cliff” and taking on a new medium.
“I was not looking to leave Seven at any point, I really enjoyed what I did, but I kind of describe it as my jumping off a cliff moment,” she said.
“When you get asked if you would like to do breakfast radio in Melbourne, that is not something you shy away from and it is not something you say ‘no’ to.
“There are very few people who get to do that gig. The magnitude of it has hit me.”
“You could say when Sharnelle came off the cliff I caught her,” Murphy quipped.
Murphy and Vella quietly took to the ABC evening airwaves before Christmas for a few nights to road test their show. Both acknowledge the show will evolve as they get to know their audience and each other.
Murphy said after some months of “professional flirting” with the ABC he was ready for the breakfast challenge.
“I was in WA for a few years (working in footy operations for the Fremantle Football Club) and we had decided to move back as a family,” he said.
“There were lots of chats and meetings. When I got the call that Sharnelle and I were going to be given a chance, it was one of the most memorable moments of my life.
“I have spent a lifetime in footy, but even within footy I have often been restless and wanting to talk about other things and been interested in lots of other things.
“In the last seven years since I finished playing there has been radio and a bit of TV, a bit of writing and coaching and leadership stuff.
“This feels like the right time to sink my teeth into something and throw myself into the deep end 100 per cent.”
Murphy and Vella replace comedian Sammy J (Samuel McMillan) who quit the ABC shift after five years in December.
Originally published as ‘My jumping off a cliff moment’: ABC breakfast hosts Sharnelle Vella and Bob Murphy join the Melbourne radio wars
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