Comedian Mick Molloy will step in to replace abruptly axed Triple M Sydney breakfast show MG, Jess and Pagey, it has been revealed today.
It comes after the media personality left the radio station and his drive show in December 2021 after 11 years on air, citing other professional opportunities as his reason.
He joins the highly-competitive breakfast timeslot following a year of struggling ratings for the station, off the back of Lawrence Mooney’s scandalous exit last year.
On Thursday, former Block star Jess Eva made the shock announcement that today would be the last ever MG, Jess & Pagey show, with the trio saying their emotional team farewell to listeners today.
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However, Mark ‘MG’ Geyer won’t be going far at all, given he’ll be co-hosting alongside Molloy from next week on the new Mick and MG in the Morning show — a title which has a familiar ring to ir, mirroring the former Moonman in the Morning program.
They’ll be joined by another familiar voice, with former Network 10 news presenter Natarsha Belling reading the headlines.
In a statement released today, Southern Cross Austereo said: “Mick and MG in the Morning will bring Triple M listeners a fresh new Breakfast offering but also the familiar voice of Molloy and his legendary radio antics.
“Well-known and respected newsreader Natarsha Belling will join the show as newsreader and will banter with the best of them to keep the boys on their toes.”
Molloy said: “I’m excited to be returning to my spiritual home at Triple M and look forward to getting amongst it, in the Sydney breakfast radio scene.
“After a year away from the radio waves I wanted a new challenge and Sydney is the perfect opportunity. I’m also looking forward to working with MG and swapping stories.
“And if this doesn’t work out, I’ll throw my hat in the ring at The Project. I hear there’s an opening,” he joked of the Channel 10 show’s “mass exodus” this week.
His co-host MG added: “I cannot wait to work with Micky, who I regard as radio royalty. One of us owns a pub, the other owns a gym. The ‘cross-over’ after work activities will be a hoot!”
SCA Chief Content Officer, Dave Cameron, said: “Mick Molloy has Triple M blood running through his veins, and to bring Mick back to headline Triple M Sydney breakfast is a triumph.”
Molloy, who co-hosts Channel 7’s The Front Bar and regularly features on Triple M’s footy commentary team, left his drive show last year, telling TheHerald Sun he just wasn’t “as fired up about it as I used to be”.
“Eleven years is longer than I’ve stayed anywhere at anytime,” Molloy said.
“There’s just a point when you know. You get up, you go to work, and you think I’m not as fired up about it as I used to be.
“It’s a big decision and not one I took lightly. But I thought it was time to do something else, and take on some new challenges.”
The announcement came a few months after his former co-host, Jane Kennedy, left their show.
Triple M breakfast struggles
Molloy’s surprise new role will be no easy feat following the struggles of the past year.
The station’s breakfast slot has been plagued with scandal following comedian Mooney’s unceremonious sacking and subsequent legal action against Southern Cross Austereo.
It came after the comedian mysteriously vanished from the airwaves to the confusion of listeners.
At the time, it was reported that Mooney had fallen out with co-host Eva and several other staff members as the show suffered dwindling ratings. He was dropped last November, with a year left on his contract, prompting an ugly legal battle.
Mooney was seeking more than $1 million for the alleged breach of contract, but it is understood the matter was resolved in April. Details of the settlement are unknown.
Before a settlement was reached, the 57-year-old’s lawyer had expressed concern the case would see the comedian “smeared” by the station over unfounded allegations from his time at the company in order to justify his sudden termination.
Brutal axing this week
On Thursday, Eva told listeners: “The MG, Jess & Pagey show will not continue in 2023, and you can tune in tomorrow for the final show,” former Block contestant Eva said on Thursday morning.
She added that she and her co-hosts would not be leaving the station, joking that they won’t be “getting some unemployment payments”.
“We’re going to be in the Triple M family, which is lovely,” she said.
It comes after a difficult year of ratings for the show, dropping 1.2 percentage points to an audience share of 3.7 per cent in the latest GfK ratings released this month.
Mick and MG in the Morning will compete with radio powerhouses Kyle and Jackie O on KIIS FM, who defeated Ben Fordham to top Sydney’s latest round of breakfast radio ratings.