Dave Matthews reappears at 91.9 SEA FM after ‘brutal sacking’ from Hot 91.1

Radio host Dave Matthews has a new gig at 91.9’s SEA FM Drive show, filling in while Luke ‘Becks’ Toohey is on leave.

Matthews had previously been at Grant Broadcasters’ Hot 91.1 alongside Sam Coward and Ash Gierke in the Breakfast slot since 2017.

Earlier this year, however, the trio faced the near-impossible task of deciding which of the three of them would leave the program.

Matthews joked that Coward was too old to find a new job, and that Gierke had only just given birth. So he was, therefore, best placed to look for a new job.

“So it only made sense that I should be the one to head off into the sunset with some incredible memories and friends behind me,” he said.

At the time, Nova’s nationally syndicated Drive show, Kate, Tim & Joel, picked up the story and dissected how they would come to their own brutal decision if confronted with the same circumstances.

Matthews told Radio Today how pleased he was to be back on air, particularly at SEA FM.

“When I first moved back to the Sunshine Coast I wanted to be on SEA FM, I met with the management and they said ‘no’. As I left the office, I turned around to the general manager and said, in my best Arnold Schwarzenegger voice ‘I’ll be back” and now look where I am. I’m back, that’s where I am,” he said.

He also noted the impact radio had had on him, as well as his own unexpected impact on radio and the local community.

“I am a comedy nut. I just wish I was funnier. I love to laugh, it’s one of my favourite things. I enjoy TikTok and entertaining my 50K followers, even if it is with dad jokes.

“I was on breakfast radio at Hot91 for four years and although I’ve always felt it was a privilege to be on air, I honestly didn’t realise the impact that I’d had on this community. When I announced my departure from Hot91, I received thousands of messages from people who were very affected by the move.

“I had a lady message me, saying that she moved her whole family up from Victoria to the Sunshine Coast because of how I spoke about this place. I think our house prices may have helped with the decision too.”