Kris Fade turned down Kyle Sandilands’ crown – now he’s rating his radio replacements

Exclusive: Radio’s biggest name Kris Fade has given his two cents on the new KIIS FM Breakfast radio show, due to start on Monday, November 9.

Fade, who is back in Sydney this week promoting the launch of his protein bar company Fade Fit, told nine.com.au that he thinks new hosts Dr Chris Brown, Amy Gerard and Jack Charles will do a “fantastic” job despite the “pressure” they’re probably feeling.

“Radio is one of the hardest professions, people don’t realise that. You get judged pretty quickly as soon as they jump on they’ll have a lot of eyes and ears on them, there’ll be a lot of pressure, but they’ll do a fantastic job,” he said.

“They’re all well trained, they’re gonna be real, they’re great people, I think it’ll be cool.”

Brown, Gerard and Charles were confirmed as the new line-up for KIIS FM Sydney Breakfast in September following months of speculation.

Fade was secretly offered the gig to host the Breakfast slot on KIIS FM after the collapse of the Kyle and Jackie O Show, which he turned down for a “number of reasons.”

The Dubai star told nine.com.au that he has “no regrets,” about turning down the gig.

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“They’ve got another Chris... he’s good, he’s tall,” he joked, before adding “I have no regrets for not coming home.”

The Australian radio star added that he wouldn’t ever close the door entirely to coming back down under.

“Dubai will always be home, but never say never about not coming back here,” he said.

“I’m launching Fade Fit [in Australia], I’m working on a lot of other stuff, Australia will always be home as well, my parents are here, my sisters, my brothers ... but from a radio perspective my home is in Dubai, I love it.”

Fade revealed he had been offered the gig to host the breakfast show in a lengthy statement posted to his Instagram in June.

In the post, he claimed he was offered his “dream job” in Australia but had decided to remain in the United Arab Emirates and re-sign his contract with Virgin Radio.

“A few weeks ago, life threw me a curveball,” he wrote at the time.

“A month ago I was offered my dream job back home in Sydney. For anyone who has ever chased a dream, you’ll understand how significant that was for me.

“My entire family are in Sydney. My roots are there, my childhood is there, my ageing mum and dad, so for the past few weeks I’ve spent countless hours thinking, talking, negotiating, praying and trying to work out what the right decision was.

“After all that, I’ve made my choice.” That choice, he concluded, was Dubai.

“While Sydney will always be home and Australia will always be part of who I am, my heart told me that my story here isn’t finished. Not yet,” he explained.

“Thank you for allowing a Lebanese Australian kid to come here with a dream and build a life beyond anything he could have imagined. After 19 years, I’m still here and if you’ll have me, I’m not done yet. Let’s keep going.”

Fade had been at the centre of rumours for months. Rather than shutting down the intense speculation surrounding the vacant KIIS FM role and had spent months masterfully dodging the question.

Dubai’s The Kris Fade Show, is the number one radio show in the United Arab Emirates.

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