Jane Kennedy announces shock departure from Triple M’s Kennedy Molloy
Mick Molloy will host Triple M’s national drive offering solo in 2021, after Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) revealed Jane Kennedy won’t return to Kennedy Molloy.
As with most flagship breakfast and drive shows across Australian metro radio, Kennedy Molloy was due back on the airwaves next Monday, 18 January. Now the show will be known simply as ‘Molloy’.
Mick Molloy will now host drive solo across the Triple M network
Kennedy had co-hosted the show for the past three and a half years with Molloy, having first appeared on Triple M (then EON FM) on The D-Generation in the late 80s and early 90s.
The pair replaced Merrick Watts mid-way through 2017, with Molloy having just spent the seven years prior on Triple M Melbourne’s The Hot Breakfast.
In a statement, Kennedy said she will be departing the show to spend more time with her family, specifically her five teenagers.
“When I first accepted this amazing job I joked about leaving my kids at home to go and have a bit of fun for a couple of hours a day at work. The truth is doing a show like Kennedy Molloy is so much more than that. It’s a show I cared about 24/7,” Kennedy said.
“This year marks my third VCE/HSC student in a row and I think most parents will understand what that means, particularly during a COVID lockdown bubble. I tried to make both work but it’s just become too hard to keep that balance in check so I’m waving the white flag.”
She thanked Molloy for his efforts over the past few years, and says she’ll continue to listen to the show.
“Mick Molloy is the funniest person in Australia and it has been a joy and privilege to work with him. We are great friends.
“I want to thank the incredible team from KM for their dedication and talent. I love them all and I’m so sad to leave but I will listen everyday to what will continue to be the best drive show in the country.”
Head of the Triple M Network, Mike Fitzpatrick, said it’s been a pleasure having Kennedy on the network, and backed Molloy to continue delivering a top quality drive show.
“The past year has created an opportunity for many of us to reassess our lifestyle priorities and I think there’s a lot of people going into 2021 with a renewed focus on what’s most important in our lives. It’s been so wonderful having Jane on Triple M, she will be missed by us all,” he said.
“Triple M’s national drive home will now be hosted by Mick Molloy and the brains trust has worked overtime to come up with a new show name. Molloy will commence Monday afternoon at 4pm across the Triple M network.
“As for Mick punching on with his own show. He’s got more than a few runs on the board. If anyone can go out and deliver a captains knock for the drive home, it’s him.”
Jane Kennedy and Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters
In their time as a duo on Triple M drive, the pair have been lauded for their chemistry, and in a 2020 interview with Mumbrella Kennedy described her relationship with Molloy as like “a couple who’s been divorced who get on very well”.
Molloy said his partner will be missed by the team and listeners, calling her “irreplaceable”.
“Jane Kennedy is the funniest, smartest, toughest chick I know. If she says she’s got too much on her plate then that’s the end of the argument,” he said.
“Jane will be missed by me, our team and anyone who enjoys listening to cracking radio. I guess I will have to chalk this up as yet another significant relationship with a woman that didn’t last as long as I would have liked.”
‘Dangerous’ Dave Williams will continue as the show’s anchor.
Molloy added: “Jane is irreplaceable so we will bat on without her. It will be all hands on deck from our team and the wonderful and funny friends of the show we have collected over the last three years. Sadly for Dave he will still not be on the poster.”
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Zanda Wilson was a reporter and podcast producer at Mumbrella, specialising in radio reporting. He left Mumbrella in September 2021.
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