Exclusive: There are some Aussie stars who come to an interview armed with media training designed to dodge any hint of controversy. Then, there’s Dave Hughes.
“Ask me whatever you want,” the beloved comic, 54, says with a grin. “I’ve come to a point in my life where I’ve given up caring. The less you care, the happier you are.”
Dave Hughes is an open book when it comes to all aspects of his life. Supplied
This mantra means it takes a mere few seconds before he’s off spinning yarns like there’s no tomorrow, recalling the exact moment he had that epiphany – the day he got sacked.
It was 2024 when his hit 2DayFM radio show Hughesy, Ed & Erin came to an abrupt halt after four years on air. No farewell to the audience, no fanfare, nothing.
“I thought people would think less of me,” Hughes admits. “Then, after about a day, I realised that no one’s thinking about me at all. It was liberating.
“I was in those rating surveys for 20, 25 years. Every six weeks you’re worried about what the number is and whether it will ruin your reputation. Then eventually, after all that time, I get sacked. It didn’t ruin my reputation.
“So I say to everyone – stop worrying. It doesn’t matter.”
I was about to bring up another radio duo whose hit breakfast show recently ended abruptly – albeit, under more legally contentious circumstances – but he beats me to it.
“It honestly doesn’t matter whether you’re the best or the worst, whether you get a $100 million contract and you look like you’re the bee’s knees, because five minutes later you could be gone,” he says.
“Don’t feel jealous of other people, because their time’s coming.”
His thinly veiled reference, of course, surrounds Kyle Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson, whose tenure at KIIS FM shattered this year amid messy, multi-million-dollar wrongful termination lawsuits and a counter-suit from parent company ARN.
The Kyle and Jackie O Show’s demise came just two years after the pair signed a landmark $200 million, 10-year contract that was set to last until 2034.
Hughesy famously branded Sandilands a “massive d–khead” during a Logies gag years ago, sparking a long-running public feud. When I ask if they’re still enemies, he laughs it off.
“Everyone laughed [at the joke], except Kyle!” he says.
His tone shifts slightly when speaking about what he thinks was the beginning of the end for the blockbuster breakfast radio show.
“I know them, and they’re fine. I have no issue with them,” he says of Sandilands and Henderson.
Kyle and Jackie O’s hit radio show came to an abrupt halt earlier this year. Supplied
“But, you know, when you promote how much money you’re making and then half the people around you have been sacked because there’s no money left, it’s clearly going to you … The company is eventually going to go, ‘Well, we can’t make money.’
“It’s a tough environment now. Media is tough. We all know that because of the change in the world and the way that advertisers are spending their money.
“I’ve seen the change, and we’ve all seen it. I go to radio stations now, and there used to be about 100 desks, and now there’s about two people. There’s no one in there. It’s a different world. That’s something in many different environments now, and it’s going to continue.”
Hughesy returns to comic mode when I ask what he’d say if ARN phoned to offer him the breakfast radio slot himself.
“I don’t really need the money at the moment, to be honest, so it’s probably a no,” he says. “But, you know, still ask me, we can talk. I want $150 million, though! How’s that going to go down in the company? You got that left after you pay the lawyers? Probably not.”
When I ask who he’d like to see take over, his response is equally candid. “I don’t care, to be honest,” he says, with a smile. “The world has changed so much that I don’t think it’s as big of a deal as it used to be. Whoever goes into any job, I hope they do well.”
While he jests about the chaos of the industry, Hughes admits staying sane in the modern world comes down to a very deliberate choice in how you process reality.
“You have a choice between laughing and crying,” Hughes says. “Crying can be fun, don’t get me wrong. I’ll cry many internal tears of self-pity, basically most of them.
“But you can also laugh. I say to my kids every day, ‘Guys, you only ever really live inside your own head, and you make every decision about your life because life is just perception.’ Nothing else really matters.”
For Hughesy, it’s the live stand-up stage where he feels most alive.
He’s in the midst of a mammoth Australian tour for his new show, Cooked, playing dates right across the country.
“Yeah, I’m going everywhere,” he says. “If you want me, just contact me on any socials, and I’ll probably turn up to where you are.
Hughesy’s new mantra is not care about what anyone thinks. Nine
“If I’m going to be completely honest, stand-up comedy is where I get my real joy, and it always has been. There’s nothing like the thrill of being on stage.
“I’m getting better and better, and loving it more and more, and because of my new attitude of not caring, I’m more relaxed on stage.
“So honestly? I would be happy just to do stand-up comedy every night for the rest of my life.”
Dave Hughes’ new stand-up show, Cooked, is currently touring nationally until the end of August. For tour dates and tickets, visit davehughes.com.au.