Former Today presenter opens up on “humiliating” axing
Broadcaster Sami Lukis has opened up about the “cut-throat” television and radio industry as she detailed her “humiliating” experience of being sacked from the Today show.
Lukis, who worked as weather presenter on the Channel 9 breakfast show from 2002 to 2004, said she received the “shocking” news from her manager at the end of her three-week US holiday.
“Talk about a holiday to remember,” Lukis wrote on news.com.au.
“This all happened many years ago, but the memory is just as vivid today. And thinking about how it all went down still makes me anxious.”
Lukis said Richard Wilkins, her friend and colleague at the network, had been told she was leaving the show before she found out.
She later discovered that Steve Price, who was her holiday replacement, would be taking over her role. She said while the news was “an added kick in the guts”, she did not bear him any ill will. “I have no hard feelings towards Stevie,” she wrote. “He was clearly the right man for the job. I mean, he’s still there, all these years later.”
Lukis said the experience helped her prepare for another sacking a decade later, when she was let go from her breakfast show at Mix FM . After nearly a year of co-hosting the morning program with Yumi Stynes, a friend informed her of reports that Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O would be moving to the network.
“’The story in today’s paper that Kyle & Jackie O are taking over the breakfast show at Mix FM. Isn’t that your job?’” Lukis recalled her friend’s message.
“Yep. It was my job at the time. My network. My timeslot.
“It certainly would have lessened the blow if the bosses had respected me enough to let me know, before it became public knowledge.”
In January 2014, Kyle and Jackie O began broadcasting at the station, which was also rebranded as KIIS FM.
“In an industry that’s all about ‘communicating’, it’s ironic that communication is often its greatest let down,” Lukis wrote.