Kyle Sandilands revealed on radio this morning that his father, Peter, passed away on Sunday March 20 following a battle with liver and bowel cancer.
His death came as a shock to Sandilands, 44, who had just landed in Sydney after a long-haul flight from Paris ten minutes earlier. He received the news via a phone call.
Kyle told his co-host Jackie O on KIIS FM that he had texted his dad as soon as he landed to let him know he was back.
“When I arrived home yesterday I sent a text to a few friends, including dad saying “I’m back b******” and then he died 10 minutes later,” he said.
It’s no secret that Kyle’s relationship with his parents hasn’t always been easy. In a memorable interview in 2007, Sandilands told Andrew Denton on Enough Rope that as a teenager he was homeless for about a year, after his parents kicked him out of home. Following an out-of-control party, Kyle’s mother and stepfather forced him to leave, and when seeking help from his father, Peter, he was also turned away.
“They said they looked [for me]…but they couldn’t have looked too far cause I really was still around the same suburbs that we grew up in,” he said at the time.
“I felt that I couldn’t [go home]. They said get out you’re not welcome back here.”
Kyle has been open about having a “great relationship with them now,” although he told Andrew Denton that there were a lot of issues that have never been discussed. “No one’s ever cried,” he said. “No one’s ever said sorry.”
But this morning, Kyle held back tears as he told listeners, “We had a great relationship at the end there.”
Nonetheless, he admitted it wasn’t perfect. “It’s the regret of like 10 years in the middle somewhere, where it was a bit forced. He was trying to get us back and I was pretending it was alright but it was just messy,” he said.
In a particularly emotional moment, Kyle shared that he had visited his dad in Brisbane just a few weeks ago. Despite having not kissed his dad goodnight since he was 11, on this particular occasion, he did.
‘Unfortunately I didn’t get to see him after that but he kept his promise and didn’t die while I was away,” said Kyle.