By Adelaide Lang, Farid Farid and Will Nicholas

Former morning radio queen Jackie O could be dragged into a bitter legal battle brought by her estranged co-host Kyle Sandilands over his record $100 million radio contract. 

Sandilands is suing his former employer ARN – owner of KIIS and Gold radio stations – over claims his lucrative contract was invalidly terminated in March because there was no serious misconduct.

While the top-rating provocateur and one-time TV judge reiterated from the courthouse steps his desire to get back on air, lawyers for his radio bosses poured cold water on that inside the Federal Court.

“We don’t accept the central premise that Mr Sandilands’ goodwill and notoriety is dramatically wasting away for every day he’s not on air,” ARN’s barrister Tom Blackburn SC told the court during the lawsuit’s first mention.

The possibility of Sandilands being granted the relief he wanted in forcing the radio company to allow him to host again was “vanishingly small”, he told the court.

“This is in substance a claim for a debt,” Mr Blackburn said.

“He wants his $10 million a year for the next eight or nine years.”

ARN denies Sandilands’s claims that it invalidly tore up his multi-million dollar contract, a decision it says was made with good reason.

Mr Blackburn said the company is considering whether to make a cross-claim against the radio host for his prior conduct towards co-host Jackie “Jackie O” Henderson.

ARN said Henderson gave notice she could no longer work with her co-host in February, triggering an early March decision to terminate the remainder of her 10-year, $100 million agreement.

It stemmed from the shock jock’s on-air clash with Henderson in which he lambasted her for being “off with the fairies”.

The shock jock was hired for his robust conduct, which was then identified as desirable and couldn’t now amount to misconduct, his barrister told the court.

It had been agreed Sandilands would be immune if the radio company didn’t censor content before it went on air, Scott Robertson SC said on Friday.

“This is not a case for a royal commission into Mr Sandilands and his radio career,” he said.

He argued the radio host was entitled to return to hosting his show after being invalidly terminated and he was looking forward to returning to his audience.

Mr Robertson pushed for the matter to be expedited and set down for a three-day hearing, noting most of the dispute has been outlined in correspondence between lawyers.

“The battle lines have already been drawn,” he said.

But Justice Angus Stewart held off on making the order, directing the parties to file further documents before the matter returns to court in April.

The end of the Kyle and Jackie O Show came after Sandilands slammed his broadcast partner for looking into former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s horoscope.

“You’re off with the fairies … every segment, every time you’ve spoken, you don’t even know what’s going on,” Sandilands said to Henderson during the February 20 broadcast.

Sandilands was suspended on March 3 and issued a breach notice for serious misconduct.

He has consistently denied breaching the terms of his contract.

Outside court on Friday, Sandilands said he regretted his comments to Henderson while arguing it did not differ from his conduct over 25 years.

“We’ve had blow-ups before … We just get over it, usually. So I think this has all turned into quite a circus,” he said.

The longtime radio host said he was looking forward to getting back on the air so he can support his family and give his listeners what they want.

“I’m ready to go today,” he said.

“Let’s just hope we get back to work as soon as possible”.

The Kyle and Jackie O Show was a consistent ratings juggernaut in Sydney but had failed to gain much traction in its expansion to Melbourne and Brisbane.