Tim Bailey says Ten redundancy was a ‘knife through the back’ as he joins 2GB
Weather presenter Tim Bailey has joined former Ten colleague Joe Hildebrand at 2GB, signing on to deliver the weather each morning on Ben Fordham’s show and provide another update during Jim Wilson’s drive slot.
On-air yesterday, Bailey told Fordham his redundancy hit him “right between the eyes. A knife through the back and through the heart is the best description of it. It was brutal and I was very, very sad”.
But, “20 minutes after I was sacked from Channel 10, my phone rang, and before I had a chance to fall down, a bloke by the name of Benny Fordham picked me up. Him and his boss [Nine Radio’s managing director, Tom Malone] … offered me a job.”
Bailey left Ten last month
Fordham recalled ringing Bailey last month after reading the news of his departure from Ten, along with the likes of Kerri-Anne Kennerley and Natarsha Belling.
“I remember when you picked up, I said: ‘Tim, it’s Ben Fordham. Silly question, but how are you?’ And you said, ‘Mate, I’m not great.’ But by the end of the phone call, I started saying ‘Hey, we want you at 2GB’. Not that I had the power to hire you, but I knew that I’d at least be able to organise a meeting. And it all happened so quickly.”
Fordham arranged a lunch between Bailey and Malone to discuss the potential job opportunity. By the end of the meeting, Malone’s kindness towards Bailey had gone some way to counter his last moments at Ten, according to the longtime weatherman.
“He [Malone] was such a lovely man,” Bailey said. “He reached out to me when I’d been treated fairly poorly [at Ten], and he reached out after knowing me for five minutes and treated me magically.”
Mumbrella approached Ten for comment in response to Bailey’s account.
At the point of the weather presenter’s departure, Hildebrand was still in discussions with Ten management about another role with the network, but earlier this month it was confirmed he would be leaving not only Studio 10 but the network entirely.
Last week, Hildebrand announced he had picked up hour-long Thursday night shifts at 2GB, with the role set to expand.
“I can’t think of any better place to be than 2GB,” Hildebrand said of the new role. “I’ve got a strong feeling that a lot of my old audience from Studio 10 are also the kind of people who listen to 2GB. These are battlers from the suburbs, people who live in the real world, who like straight talk and big laughs and I can’t wait to reconnect with them.”
Bailey agreed: “I am proud, pumped, and privileged to be part of the family, Benny boy.
“You’ve got me, you’ve got my energy, I owe you one. And when a Bailey owes you one, you are gonna get a hundred percent of my heart, and my talent, my ability, my energy and enthusiasm every single day, mate.”
Wilson joined 2GB as drive host in June after 28 years at Seven, replacing Fordham after he shifted to the breakfast slot to take over from Alan Jones.
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Brittney Rigby was Mumbrella's deputy managing editor - news and analysis. She left Mumbrella in April 2021.
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