Gay farmers, dancing doonas, bunny ears: it’s the show you either love, or love to hate. Yet what goes up must come down. Can notorious radio duo Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O save the besieged Big Brother machine?

In October of last year, Gretel Killeen was dumped as the host of Channel Ten’s ailing reality series Big Brother. She was the face of the show for seven years, but after poor ratings and an unfortunate string of cookie-cutter housemates, a renovation was in order.

Enter infamous radio duo Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O, who have taken the reins from Killeen. And they have big shoes to fill – Killeen was renowned for her smarts, quick wit, and ability to handle the fiercely fluid live television medium.

“I don’t really think about it too much because Kyle and I will bring something completely different,” Jackie tells AXN. “I think if I was hosting it on my own there would be those really obvious comparisons, but the dynamic is going to change a lot.

“Gretel did the most amazing job. I always had so much admiration for her because that was a tough job to handle on your own. She remained really calm under pressure and I know what she had to deal with.”

Indeed Killeen was often the victim of grisly public autopsies. She was lambasted for her perceived aggression towards certain housemates, with online petitions even established to get her booted off the show. Jackie leaps to her defence.

“I don’t think she was as harsh as what people made out,” she asserts. “Sometimes you could see if she didn’t like a particular housemate, but I don’t think [the backlash] was warranted at all – she didn’t do anything wrong.”

But the Big Brother shake-up extends far beyond the hosts. This year’s housemates reflect unparalleled diversity, and include tear-away teen Corey Worthington Delaney and 53-year-old grandma and Pauline Hanson-diehard, Terri.

“The housemates are definitely different in every way this time around – not just age-wise, but culturally,” Jackie concurs. “And the show needed that desperately.

“I can promise you that we wouldn’t have wanted to be on board if it was another bunch of blond 20-somethings. It’s not what the people want anymore.”

Big Brother is not Jackie’s first television sortie – she has previously graced our screens on Popstars, Undercover Angels and Australian Princess.

“You have a lot more control on radio,” she says. “So when I made the transition to TV I was really taken aback by the fact that everyone else is in charge and I didn’t really have the say I was used to having on radio.

“So that was a let-down really – which is why I don’t enjoy TV as much. You’re reading someone else’s words and it’s all a bit robotic – you feel like a puppet. But a live show will be a lot better.”

The Jackie O and Kyle Sandilands partnership launched in 1999 when Sandilands replaced Ugly Phil, Jackie’s ex-husband, on 2Day FM’s ‘Hot 30 Countdown’.

“I remember the first two days were terrible,” Jackie laughs. “He was so bad and I kept thinking ‘no he’s not going to work’! But then on the third day he just completely pulled it together.”

Sandilands regularly cops flack for his shock-jock antics, and was even given the ignominious title of most hated Australian identity in a Zoo Weekly article in 2006. Nevertheless, Jackie enjoys a very close relationship with him – perhaps the key to their success.

“We have this great chemistry,” she muses. “We are actually good friends and almost always on the same page creatively. Of course I don’t always agree with what he says, but we don’t have many people in this country who are outspoken like he is. He’s refreshing and always makes it interesting.”

Let’s wait and see. AXN

Big Brother screens on Network Ten.