Jo Stanley speaks for the first time about her shock sacking: 'I was never told why.'

Jo Stanley has addressed the shock of being dumped from her breakfast radio slot with Anthony “Lehmo” Lehmann at the end of last year, despite them boasting the number one breakfast show in Melbourne.

In November, Jo and Lehmo were told their services were no longer required on Gold FM just weeks after ratings told them they were Melbourne’s number one show – they had snapped up an incredible 8.4 per cent share of the Melbourne breakfast market, 0.3 points clear of Fifi, Fev and Byron on Fox FM.

Now, in an interview with Craig Bruce in the Game Changers: Radio podcast, Stanley said she still has no idea why they were sacked from the show.

“I have had so many people ask me that … and I have no answer,” Stanley said.

A post shared by realjostanley (@realjostanley) on Nov 19, 2017 at 4:08pm PST

“I honestly can’t say. I don’t know what happened. I don’t know why the company decided to go in a different direction.”

She went on to say she had tried to contact Duncan Campbell, the National Content Director of ARN, but had never heard back from him.

“Duncan Campbell has not given me any opportunity to speak with him,” she said.

“Maybe this is a tactic … maybe people who sack people would rather not talk to you. I’m not going to be nasty to him, I’d just like to hear from him what was he thinking but he’s not given me the opportunity to have the conversation.

“I’m deeply saddened that Lehmo and I aren’t doing a show together anymore because I think we were amazing and hadn’t yet hit our potential. And I’m deeply saddened not to be talking to that audience anymore. I have to say, the Gold FM audience… they were so entertaining, the brought the best stories.”

Despite this, the radio presenter said does not and will not miss the company at large.

Rebecca Sparrow and Robin Bailey speak about those moments it feels like everything’s against you: losing a job, going through loss, or having to start a new career.

“I don’t wish to work for that company if they’re making decisions like that,” she said.

Stanley, who is the only female presenter in Melbourne to host number one breakfast shows on separate FM stations, said in the end, the decision has been “transformative” for her.

She told Bruce she has now been given the opportunity to discover new things in her career and this year, she believes chasing those things could “change her life”.

Soon after the news was made public, Lehmo told The Age the sacking came as a blunt shock to both of them.

“Everyone gets fired in radio, it comes with the territory,” he said. “You just don’t get expect it to happen when you’re on top, when you’ve just had your best result in 11 years on the network.”