2Day FM's Em Rusciano on controversy, ratings and living in Melbourne

2Day FM's Em Rusciano on controversy, ratings and living in Melbourne

It's fair to say Em Rusciano doesn't hold back.

Even in the press release announcing her as the new host of the 2Day FM breakfast show, she describes herself as the "herpes" of radio, in reference to her 12-year career of dipping in and out of broadcasting.

The new voice of Sydney, Em Rusciano, host of 2DayFM's breakfast show.

The new voice of Sydney, Em Rusciano, host of 2DayFM's breakfast show. Credit:James Brickwood

She's defiantly no-holds barred, as the cliche goes for women with an opinion who don't mince their words. The Daily Mail, for example, as she described recently, is a "disgusting wart on the bottom of humanity ... you're a bunch of dicks and I hate you."

It's going to be interesting listening, that's for sure. Could she be the rocket needed to fire up the "poisoned chalice" slot yet to recover from the departure of Kyle and Jackie O in 2013? Or will she just have people choking on their cornflakes?

Rusciano with co-host Harley Breen.

Rusciano with co-host Harley Breen.

Before she even gets behind the mic, however, the controversy has begun.

Rusciano admits she was "blindsided" by the furore over the fact she and her co-host and fellow stand-up Harley Breen will be hosting the Sydney breakfast show but living in Melbourne.

With both hosts unwilling to uproot their families for their new gig, they will commute to Sydney for one or two days a week and work out of their hometown for the remainder.

"I don't think the people in Sydney actually care where stuff comes from," she says. "It's not like [people are saying] there's this great new show on Netflix but it was made in America so we're not going to watch it. It's weird."

Rusciano says she doesn't feel the ratings pressure.

Rusciano says she doesn't feel the ratings pressure. Credit:James Brickwood

A conversation with her new bosses at Southern Cross Austereo's Hit Network about moving from the Yarra Valley, where she lives with her husband and two daughters, "just never came up".

The producing team on the show are all based in Sydney, and she's lived here in the past and is always regularly in and out for work, she says.

"I don't feel like an outsider pretending to be a Sydneysider. And we're not lying about it, we just genuinely didn't factor it in that this is going to be controversial."

To be fair, the pair are going to have much bigger fish to fry. They are the fourth team to fill the slot after the defection of breakfast behemoths Kyle and Jackie O to Kiis FM. Mel B, Merrick Watts, Jules Lund and Sophie Monk followed in 2014, then Dan Debuf and Maz Compton in 2015, who were replaced by Rove McManus and Sam Frost last year – all meeting a swift end after failing to set ratings alight.

"Oh, so supportive," she yells sarcastically about the comments that have arisen over the the durability of the slot.

"I don't think it's a poisoned chalice. It's a job," she says.

"SCA haven't mentioned ratings once. There's no pressure whatsoever, because if you start doing that you kill the magic and you go on-air scared. We need to go on-air brave."

The 37-year-old seems robust enough to block out the scrutiny and describes herself as "bulletproof". The reason being, she says, which she's spoken about publicly before, is overcoming prior battles with depression and anxiety, including a spell in a psychiatric ward 10 years ago. There's also the perspective she gained from experiencing the deaths of a couple of close friends a few years ago.

"I know what matters," she says.

"In the grand scheme of things, yes, there's ratings, yes, there's board members, yes, there's advertisers to please. Yes, there's all that stuff but it's just radio. That's it. I think it's really important that I don't lose perspective and sight of that."

For the show, she says she hopes to bring laughs but also reasoned debate, without the hate and panic that the world is currently embroiled in.

"Let's have open discussions and let's not panic and let's not be extremist and alarmist, but want more and expect more and be bigger. I know it's rose-coloured glasses and it's idealist but I want to make the world better, smarter and kinder for my girls so I've got to be part of shaping it. I have to do it."

The stand-up touring that usually fills her calendar is on hold this year, although she still has long-term plans for a variety TV show that's "Judy Garland meets Graham Norton" that she hopes to develop.

In the meantime, all focus is on the radio show.

"Bring it," she says. "All I can do is my best. I don't actually feel any pressure because I can't control the ratings and I can't control how people perceive me or Harley. All I can control is making a really kickarse, funny, thoughtful show that stands for something. That's all we can do.


"If it doesn't work, that's OK, you'll be interviewing someone else in two years' time or whatever," she says, laughing. "But I'm going to give it a crack. I'm going to do my best, I'm going to give it everything."

The Em Rusciano Radio Show with Harley Breen starts on 2Day FM on January 23, 6am.

Most Viewed in Culture