Kyle Sandilands drops on-air career-switch bombshell
Embattled radio host Kyle Sandilands has revealed a bombshell career move.
Sandilands has told listeners of his Kyle & Jackie O Show that he’s heading into movies – with a cameo role in the upcoming film Zombie Plane.
The 53-year-old will play himself alongside a star-studded cast that includes Chuck Norris, Sir Bob Geldof, Ice T and Brian Austin Green.
“A Sydney to LA flight is taken over by zombies and an eclectic group of high-profile passengers, led by celebrities turned secret agents, must band together to fight to save humanity. Have you ever heard of a better plot ever?” he said during Monday morning’s broadcast.
“I’m actually picking out my Oscars outfit now … we’ll be going to Cannes, probably. We’ll be going to all the film festivals. Probably. Move over, Leo. You’ve had your turn. It’s Sandilands’ turn.”
He described the film as “Snakes on a Plane, but with zombies,”
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“Have you ever heard of a better plot?” Sandilands asked co-host Jackie Henderson. “It’s a big budget. Real sets. No green screen. I’m actually out on the water on a super yacht.”
Other Australians among the star-studded cast will include Stephen Curry, Natalie Bassingwaithe, Cody Simpson, Matt Okine, John Jarratt and Amy Shark.
Sandilands’ character will apparently be a larger than life version of himself. He will smoke cigars, sip whisky and lounge aboard a luxury vessel before Ice-T turns up to enlist his help with a critical “instrumentation situation.”
“I’m playing myself as a very rich man on a super yacht,” he said.
“Then a big American submarine pops you and out pops Ice T, who’s in charge of the submarine, and I’ve got to help them. I don’t think I have a lot of dialogue.”
The sidestep into cinema comes as Sandilands and Henderson continue to battle poor ratings in their shift into the competitive Melbourne breakfast radio market.
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It followed their record-breaking $200 million deal with Australian Radio Network signed in November 2023. Under the 10-year deal, the pair each earns $10 million a year.
But they have struggled to make any real impact in the Victorian capital. In early May, the most recent ratings had them as the seventh most popular breakfast radio show, with a 5.8 per cent share (up 0.7 per cent on the previous survey) of listeners.
Ahead of those ratings, Sandilands launched into a explosive rant on air, threatening to “[pull] the carpet out” in Melbourne “if we don’t rate better by the end of the year”.
“Let’s get one thing right here, and I’ve told our management this. We’re not going to super serve Melbourne and ignore our Sydney audience. You either glue on in Melbourne or you. One or the other,” he said.
“I’ll just take the show off, Melbourne.”
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On Monday, Sandilands said he hadn’t been required to audition for his zombie flick. It will require him for just a day of filming on the Gold Coast.
“I’m flying to the Gold Coast today and I film tomorrow, all day. I’ll still do the radio show in the morning from the hotel then I’ll be off to the film set,” he said.
One of Sandilands’ Zombie costars, Love Island Australia host Sophie Monk has previously spoken about her role in the movie.
“I play myself, but I have to act a bit like how I’d act if a zombie was there,” she told Today.
“It’s more like method acting, I’ve been method acting my whole life – if there was a real zombie outbreak I’d die straight away, but in this I’m a little more, I fight back.”
Production on Zombie Plane, which is directed by Lav Bodnaruk and Mike Mier, wraps up this week. The film is yet to get a release date.
