Kyle Sandilands has quit Australian Idol after online activist group the Mad F**king Witches attacked potential advertisers of the Channel Seven show.
The feminist group targeted Sandilands’ corporate sponsors for years while he was on KIIS FM, accusing his show of ‘violent misogyny’, crude remarks and offensive on–air content.
They claim their campaign prompted 1,900 advertisers to agree not to fund The Kyle and Jackie O Show when it was on air and led media regulators to take an interest in ARN.
Sandilands told The Sydney Morning Herald on Friday that he decided to step down from Idol to prevent more damage to the program.
‘I spoke with Channel Seven this morning, and those activists have attacked the potential clients for Australian Idol or the clients from last year, and this has caused a problem in Channel Seven’s sales team,’ he said.
‘So I’ve told Channel Seven this morning, just prior to speaking to you, that I’m standing down from Idol for the good of the brand to continue.’
Kyle Sandilands (left) has quit Australian Idol after online activist group the Mad F**king Witches, who have held a campaign against the shock jock for years, attacked potential advertisers of the Channel Seven show (Pictured alongside Marcia Hines and Shark)
It comes as Sandilands is set to launch his upcoming streaming show, Kyle Sandilands Live, which is due to be released on August 10.
The radio star also recently launched a docuseries, At Home With Kyle, which follows the aftermath of his KIIS FM show being axed following an explosive on–air clash with his former co–host, Jackie ‘O’ Henderson, over her ‘fixation’ on astrology.
Sandilands recently settled his legal dispute with ARN, taking home $12.09million of the original $85million he sought.
The Mad F**king Witches celebrated the radio star settling for a fraction of his $85million contract as the ‘humiliation of the century’.
The news comes after Sandilands shed light on his brain and chest aneurysms – and whether baby Otto will be getting a little brother or sister any time soon – in an exclusive interview.
Speaking to Daily Mail’s podcast, The Debrief with Savanna Young, the radio shock jock opened up about family life with wife Tegan Kynaston, 40, his health fight, and whether the couple are planning to expand their brood.
Kyle and Tegan are already proud parents to son Otto, three, who was born in August 2022.
But while the loved–up pair have discussed having more children, Kyle admitted they’ve ultimately decided their family is complete.
The feminist group targeted Sandilands’ corporate sponsors for years while he was on KIIS FM, accusing his show of ‘violent misogyny’, crude remarks and offensive on–air content. (Pictured: Jennie Hill, the group’s founder)
The Mad F**king Witches claim their campaign prompted 1,900 advertisers to agree not to fund The Kyle and Jackie O Show when it was on air and led media regulators to take an interest in ARN.
‘We’ve talked about more kids, but we’ve decided no,’ he revealed.
‘It’s mainly because of my old age. We did want to have two at the beginning, but I was like, ‘Oh, now I know why everyone has their kids in their 20s because I’m 55 and I’m exhausted and I love every minute of it’.’
‘But … imagine having two and one’s sick. You never get any peace.’
Kyle added that he and Tegan have fully embraced a surprisingly low-key lifestyle, with the couple often tucked up in bed by 7.30pm and eating dinner before most people have finished work.
‘This is ridiculous. We’re eating dinner at 4.30pm!’ he laughed.
The radio king, who is preparing to launch his own independent show next month, also suggested his ongoing health battles have played a major role in the couple’s decision not to have more children.
Providing The Debrief with an update on the brain aneurysm and chest aneurysm doctors discovered last year, Kyle revealed he is continuing to undergo regular monitoring.
‘They can’t really operate on the one on the head because it’s attached to multiple blood vessels,’ he continued.
‘So the normal thing they can do with keyhole, they can’t do it. It’s behind my right eye. So they said they would have to cut all the way down this side like a massive scar.’
The news comes after Sandilands shed light on his brain and chest aneurysms – and whether baby Otto will be getting a little brother or sister any time soon – in an exclusive interview
The outspoken star said the prospect of such an invasive procedure was far from appealing.
‘I’m already dealing with this,’ he added, pointing to his body. ‘So imagine [looking like] Frankenstein as well.
‘[They have to] pop your skull out and get in there. And I was like, ‘You know, let’s just see if it grows first’.’
Kyle’s health battles first came to light in February 2025 when he revealed his shock diagnosis live on his now-axed KIIS FM breakfast show with Jackie ‘O’ Henderson.
The radio star stunned listeners when he announced doctors had discovered a brain aneurysm that required urgent specialist attention.
‘I was told by my medical team – which sounds like I’m already very sick, that I have a brain aneurysm. It requires immediate attention, brain surgery,’ he said at the time.
‘I’ve got to go to the cardiovascular surgeon because I’ve got another aneurysm in my chest as well. So they’ve got to monitor that one,’ he explained.
‘And then in a couple of months’ time, they go and they have to go through that whole scan process again to see if it’s grown.’
Kyle also shared a sobering update on the aneurysm behind his right eye, admitting doctors are unable to operate using standard keyhole procedures due to its complex location.
Kyle also reflected on the lifestyle choices he believes may have contributed to the diagnosis.
‘My doctor said if I didn’t get it checked, I would have died. A life of cocaine abuse and partying are not the way to go!’ he admitted.
Explaining the condition to listeners, Kyle compared the aneurysm to a damaged garden hose.
‘It’s not a blockage. It’s like, imagine your blood vessel is the garden hose, and the hose is weak and it blisters out like a big bubble, like a puncture in it,’ he said.
‘It’s like a bike tyre with a big bubble – that bubble’s the aneurysm, so it’s not blocked.
‘It’s expanded and if it bursts, [I will become] either a vegetable, in the wheelchair, or dead.’
Speaking to Daily Mail’s podcast, The Debrief with Savanna Young, the radio shock jock opened up about family life with wife Tegan Kynaston, 40, his health fight, and whether the couple are planning to expand their brood
At the time, Kyle revealed doctors had ordered him to make major lifestyle changes while they monitored the condition, including avoiding cocaine, heavy lifting and stress.
He also shared the emotional toll the diagnosis had taken on his family.
According to Kyle, wife Tegan was devastated by the news and would ‘burst into tears’ whenever she looked at him in the days after learning of the diagnosis.
The Debrief with Savanna Young is now available on the Daily Mail’s YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts, with new episodes dropping weekly.
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