Mix 94.5 farewells Dean ‘Clairsy’ Clairs

Dean ‘Clairsy’ Clairs returned for one final broadcast on Mix 94.5 on Friday to say goodbye to his co-hosts Matt Dyktynski and Kymba Cahill, as well as listeners, fans, colleagues and the city of Perth.

Clairs’ decision to leave the program came soon after Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) rebranded its Perth stations, and moved Mix 94.5 into the Hit Network.

He said he’d thrown a spanner in the works by resigning, but sent his best wishes to his replacement Pete Currulli, who moves across from the Hit92.9 Breakfast show. Hit92.9 has since become part of the Triple M family, and its new Breakfast lineup has not been revealed.

Clairs said he was sad to say farewell.

“I couldn’t think of two better people to do it with,” he said of his co-hosts.

Cahill was similarly full of praise for the outgoing host.

“I absolutely lucked our with you as my work husband,” she said during the broadcast. “We have shared so many laughs on and off air with our stupid games that we got away with… And through the good and the bad, Clairsy has always been a friend first and foremost.”

Despite the love between the co-stars, Clairs said he would most miss the show’s producer, Kat Tibbetts, who is also finishing up. He also said he’d miss the listeners, the camaraderie at work, and the daily ritual of broadcasting, which he compared to therapy.

Mix 94.5 also played a number of tributes to the radio star, including from Premier Mark McGowan who said “radio won’t be the same without you”, and former cricketer Dennis Lillee who said he’s “a legend on the airwaves”.

Another former cricketer, Adam Gilchrist, said: “There was just something about your warm voice across the airwaves of Perth every morning – it just gave our city a warm blanket of comfort to know that everything’s alright.”

In the most recent radio ratings, which were measured before the rebrand took place, Mix had a 10.8% share in Breakfast, placing it behind Nova 93.7’s 15.9%.