Controversial Australian radio broadcaster, Kyle Sandilands (b. 1971), was in kinship care as a teenager. 

Kyle Dalton Sandilands grew up in Wynnum, a suburb of Brisbane. According to Sandilands, the household was volatile, but not necessarily much different from others in his neighbourhood. When Kyle was about ten years old, his parents separated. Sandilands recounts how he and his younger brother lived with their mother, but moved frequently to keep away from their father.  

Things settled down when Kyle’s mother remarried but she and his step-father were strict. When Kyle was fifteen and a teenage party got out of control, Kyle thought he could not go back home. He was therefore homeless for quite some time before bumping into an aunt who took him into her care in Townsville, more than 1300 km north of Brisbane. 

While he was living on the streets and staying in a horse float, Kyle became intensely interested in radio. He loved the way presenters talked, told stories, joked. Kyle did work experience for 4TO in Townsville, and at the age of twenty-one he began doing paid promotional work. This work lead to a job as promotions manager and eventually to a spot on air. In search of a permanent radio show, Kyle worked at stations across Cairns, Darwin, and at Triple M in Brisbane.

Kylie has been on-air with his close friend and co-host, Jackie O. for over twenty years. Together, the pair have hosted a top-rating breakfast show in Sydney since 2013.

Kyle has also appeared on Australian television shows. He hosted Big Brother, finishing third on a celebrity version of the show in 2002, and he was a judge on Australian Idol, Australia’s Got Talent, and The X Factor.

Kyle splits his time between Sydney and Los Angeles.  His investment company, King Kyle Group, is located in inner Sydney.

References:

“Anh’s Brush with Fame. Series 1 Kyle Sandilands.” ABC iView, 2019, https://iview.abc.net.au/show/anh-s-brush-with-fame/series/1/video/DO1523H007S00#pageloaded 

“Everything you need to know about Kyle Sandilands”. Yahoo Lifestyle, 9 March 2020. https://au.sports.yahoo.com/everything-to-know-kyle-sandilands-040833476.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=ma

 Javes, Sue. “Shock waves.” The Sydney Morning Herald, 18 April 2005. https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/shock-waves-20050418-gdl556.html 

Image available here.