Big name ABC star QUITS flagship radio show – just months after beating Kyle and Jackie O in the ratings

Sammy J, who has been hosting ABC Radio Melbourne Breakfast since before the pandemic, said he leaves the program with ‘pride’ and gratitude.

‘Hosting Melbourne Breakfast was an unexpected opportunity that became an unexpected joy,’ Sammy J, real name Samuel Jonathan McMillan, said.

‘But radio demands all of you and deserves nothing less, and after five years I’m ready to trade the 4:15am alarm for more regular hours.’

‘I leave with pride, gratitude, and a litany of cash-for-comment scandals that will be revealed in due course.’

ABC Radio Melbourne Acting Manager Shelley Hadfield said Sammy J has had a huge impact on audiences.

‘Sammy has asked the questions we never knew we wanted answered,’ Ms Hadfield said.

‘He’s grilled the Prime Minister and the Premier, he broke the news to Melbourne of the Queen’s death, and he’s interviewed musicians, magicians, meatworkers and mathematicians.’

‘But it’s Sammy’s connection with the audience which has been a hallmark of his time at 774. You only had to see the listeners turn up at the crack of dawn for his outside broadcasts to understand what an impact he has had on people’s lives.’

Sammy J’s last broadcast will be December 13, with more announcements about ABC Radio Melbourne’s 2025 line-up expected over the next week.

Sammy’s departure comes just months after the radio host took an X-rated swipe at KIIS FM’s Kyle Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson after they lost out in the Melbourne market in August.

The radio duo placed fifth in this month’s survey, while Sammy J had a boost in the ratings for his ABC breakfast show.

The popular comedian could not resist boasting his victory with a post that mocked the Kyle and Jackie O Show’s love of lewd content.

‘All these months asking my ABC listeners whether they’ve done a**l has really paid off,’ Sammy said in an Instagram story.

The naughty joke at the expense of his rivals appeared to be a direct reference to a remark made by Sandilands when his radio show made its debut on Melbourne airwaves in April.

During the show Henderson, 49, introduced herself as ‘STI-free’ before Kyle began pressing her for her opinions on a**l sex.

The 52-year-old, meanwhile, introduced himself as an ‘ex F-boy, coke-sniffing a**hole.’

Meanwhile, Sammy J had a boost in listeners for his ABC Melbourne breakfast show.

He scored an audience share of 8.2 per cent in the August ratings, jumping from 7.3 in the last survey.

In the most recent ratings, ABC Melbourne dropped and had a 7 per cent share with an average audience of 55,000 in breakfast radio.

Sammy’s popularity peaked during Covid and in 2020 he averaged 114,000 listeners and had a 14.9 per cent share of the Melbourne breakfast market.