Jonesy and Amanda: ‘We were cut adrift, and it hurt’
Team Jonesy and Amanda [L to R]: Jacinda Gugliemino, Annette George, Megan Smith, Jonesy, Jenna Benson, Helen Tzarimas, Joanne Ockwell, Ryan Atkins, and Amanda
ARN is being hammered on multiple fronts. It is beset by departing listeners at Kiis, investors who have lost faith and stars who are suing for tens of millions of dollars.
Amid the trouble, the network has some rocks to cling to in the form of Gold’s national breakfast host Christian O’Connell, and now national drive duo Brendan Jones and Amanda Keller.
The latter’s new drive show — Jonesy and Amanda — is thriving, with listeners across the country responding to the chemistry between the former breakfast hosts, with solid ratings in the first survey of 2026 in Sydney and Melbourne.
ARN’s new CEO Michael Stephenson and new chief content officer Dave Cameron are reportedly loving the success of Jonesy and Amanda. But it hasn’t always been that way at ARN. In a discussion with Mumbrella ahead of the first radio ratings survey break this year, the duo remembered how under former ARN management they felt “ghosted”. They faced the prospect of being cut loose as ARN botched the plan to acquire Triple M and divest the Gold stations.
