'It takes time to find out who you are!' Jackie O offers new competition Dan Debuf and Maz Compton a backhanded compliment ahead of ratings battle
As newbies Dan Debuf and Maz Compton continue their debut 2DayFM breakfast show tomorrow after kicking it off last Wednesday, their biggest rival KIIS 1065 FM's Jackie O has delivered a cheeky backhanded compliment to the duo.
'Look, if I listened to what Kyle and I sounded like doing the Hot 30, all those years ago, I would probably cringe,' the established radio star, who co-hosts with Kyle Sandilands, told the Daily Telegraph.
Australia's new ratings period begins on Monday and competition will be fierce with Dan & Maz's show replacing the team of Sophie Monk, Jules Lund and Merrick Watts.
And despite being new to such a huge slot, the duo don't appear worried about their competition. We just wanted to do the show,' Dan told Daily Mail Australia, enthusiastically adding: 'We had a massive holiday - we took like four weeks off!'
The radio funnyman, who has teamed with his partner-in-crime Maz for six years, was amused by the hoopla around their premature beginning last Wednesday, joking:
'I think the weird part is we started on a Wednesday ... not many people start things on a Wednesday.'
Dan maintains that he doesn't feel any pressure to improve the slot's ratings, which have been lagging over the last year, explaining 'I've been doing radio for eight years. I have no other skills.'
'If there's one thing I'm comfortable doing, it's sitting next to Maz and talking into a microphone.'
Competition also comes from popular Nova's Ryan 'Fitzy' Fitzgerald and Michael 'Wippa' Wipfli who returning to their Fitzy & Wippa show on Monday.
However it was Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O's ARN stablemates, WSFM's Brendan ‘Jonesy’ Jones and Amanda Keller, whose shows' traded ratings victories throughout much of 2014.
The National Content Director for ARN Duncan Campbell said:
'All KIIS 1065 and WSFM Breakfast shows will go to air from this Monday January 19 when the ratings season start but there’s plenty of work going on behind the scenes.
'Traditionally, radio shows will only start on-air earlier than the survey period if they need to do testing of their new shows or if they have concerns about engaging their audience,' he added.
Dan & Maz replaced the team of Sophie, Jules and Merrick after the trio struggled to win back any of the 2DayFM audience lost to KIISFM following Kyle & Jackie O's departure in 2013.
Former Spice Girl Melanie 'Scary Spice' Brown was also a member of the Breakfast team, but didn't return to the show after her six-month contract expired.
Sophie has signed on to be one of the faces of The X Studio in King's Cross, while Jules Lund will present a national show from 6 to 7PM and Merrick iss heading to 2DayFM sister station Triple M, heading up a new drive-time show.
Australian radio legends Hamish Blake and Andy Lee will bring their Hamish & Andy Show to 2DayFM's Drive slot in July.