Robin Bailey opens up about her husband’s death and partner’s cancer diagnosis

Queensland radio personality Robin Bailey has open up about “the worst day” of her life in a recent interview.

The Triple M Brisbane breakfast host spoke of the harrowing experience of losing her husband Tony Smart who died in 2014 after suffering silently with depression.

At the time of his death, Bailey was a co-host on Queensland’s top-rating breakfast team at 97.3FM – Robin, Terry & Bob. She told Stellar how the couple were making arrangements to separate and how she was largely unaware of Smart’s struggles.

Bailey returned to work at 97.3FM five weeks later after enduring “downright awful” times. In 2016, she was swiftly dumped by the station a week after celebrating 10 years on-air with co-hosts Terry Hansen and Bob Gallagher, recalling how she was “summoned to the boardroom” and let go on the spot.

However, that didn’t stop Bailey, who now forms one-third of the Triple M Brisbane brekkie show alongside former rugby union player Greg Martin and comedian Ed Kavalee.

Bailey faced another unexpected hurdle in mid-August. Current partner and former Fox FM program director Sean Pickwell underwent surgery to remove a large portion of his liver after being diagnosed with cancer.

The mother-of-three admits “it’s been tough”, with the operation falling just three days before the anniversary of her husband’s death and two days after Father’s Day.

Pickwell has received a positive prognosis with early signs indicating that he will not need further treatment. For Bailey, there was a silver lining tucked into the ordeal, getting the chance to bond and spend quality time with Pickwell’s kids.