Jackie 'O' Henderson told listeners on Monday that she recently experienced a terrifying sex-related nightmare during an episode of sleep paralysis in which she felt a man pinning her down and touching her inappropriately.
On The Kyle and Jackie O Show, the KIIS FM co-host, 50, said she had ‘‘been having some sleep paralysis things happen in my dreams,’’ and recounted waking with her back against the belly of ‘‘this really fat predator.’’ She said she could not move and felt the man ‘‘caressing my privates’’ as she tried to escape his grip.
Sleep paralysis is a brief state occurring as a person is falling asleep or waking in which they are unable to move or speak and may experience vivid, often disturbing hallucinations and a sensation of pressure, medical sources say. Henderson said she later had her house ‘‘cleansed of demons’’ by an exorcist, who told her there was ‘‘an evil presence’’ in her room that he called ‘‘Fat George.’’
Henderson described the episode on air and framed it as a nightmare tied to those sleep-paralysis events. ‘‘Wow, a fat man under my bed who was a predator! Inappropriate touching,’’ she told co-host Kyle Sandilands on the program.
The disclosure came days after Henderson discussed her romantic life on the same show, saying her most recent sexual encounter occurred about a year ago while she was traveling in the United States. She said the encounter did not mark a shift toward casual sex, telling colleagues she prefers long-term commitment over hook-up culture and that she ‘‘doesn’t get much out of it unless I have feelings for the person.’’
Newsreader Brooklyn Ross, who was traveling with Henderson at the time, told colleagues he had been present during the trip. Henderson later identified that recent liaison as ‘‘a friend,’’ a revelation that prompted banter among the show’s hosts.
Henderson has previously spoken about high-profile and brief relationships. In 2024 she said she met ‘‘the man of her dreams’’ in New York at a dive bar but that the encounter ended after a photo of her at Trump Tower circulated online. She was last publicly linked to Jack Tyerman, who has since announced his engagement to another woman. Henderson was married to Lee Henderson until their separation in 2018; they share a daughter, Kitty, now 14.
Henderson’s latest account brought attention to the overlap of sleep disorders and vivid hallucinations, and to how public figures discuss intimate or unsettling experiences on live radio. She made the remarks during her regular slot on the KIIS FM morning program, which has a large Australian audience and often mixes personal anecdotes with comedic and topical commentary.