Radio personality Kyle Sandilands has publicly expressed skepticism regarding the widely described 20-year friendship between his former co-host Jackie 'O' Henderson and her manager, Gemma O'Neill. Sandilands stated in an interview on Daily Mail Australia's podcast, The Debrief with Savanna Young, that he was taken aback when he first heard the claim of a two-decade-long best friendship, describing it as "complete bulls***."

Sandilands recounted first meeting O'Neill in 2000 when she was a teenager working on reception at 2DayFM. He noted that he has known O'Neill for roughly the same duration as Henderson, and that O'Neill later became an executive producer for the Kyle & Jackie O show. However, Sandilands maintained that their prior relationship with O'Neill was largely professional.

"It was surprising to me that it was claimed to be such a solid 20-year friendship, when really we all know that they barely knew each other until the last couple of years," Sandilands said. He clarified that he was not disputing the current closeness of Henderson and O'Neill's bond, but rather the stated timeline.

According to Sandilands, the relationship between Henderson and O'Neill significantly deepened during Henderson's public struggle with prescription pill addiction. He stated that O'Neill was instrumental in Henderson's recovery, with Henderson herself crediting O'Neill with saving her life. "That's when Gemma rescued Jackie from this pill thing," Sandilands explained. "She saved her life, according to Jackie." He suggested this experience was the catalyst for their strong bond, saying, "I understand why the friendship was glued in. That sort of bond."

Sandilands also pointed out that during Henderson's recovery period, O'Neill was working for a rival radio network, which he found noteworthy. He stated that while O'Neill may have played a vital role in Henderson's recovery, the public perception of their deep friendship seemed to emerge more recently.

He shared that this discrepancy in the friendship's timeline surprised others in their professional circle, including his own manager, Bruno Bouchet. "It was odd to me and odd to Bruno and odd to many other people that knew that's not quite really the story," Sandilands commented.

While addressing rumors that O'Neill negotiated contracts for both himself and Henderson, Sandilands refuted this, stating that his own deals were handled by Bouchet and his legal team. He mentioned his own efforts to ensure Henderson received equal pay throughout their time working together. "When I met her, she was the star and I was just the no one from the bush," Sandilands said. "I paid the legals for that every year. Jackie would just get a mirror image of it because I was always about the equal pay."

Despite his reservations about the historical narrative of the friendship, Sandilands refrained from criticizing the current relationship between Henderson and O'Neill. "Maybe it's like she's never had a friend like her, and she's known her for 20 years, but the friendship's really strong at the end," he mused. "Who am I to say?"

The Debrief with Savanna Young podcast releases new episodes weekly and is available on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.