Radio star Ray Hadley has secured a $10 million contract with 2GB and 4BC after signing with the stations until 2026.
‘After sitting down with Tom Malone [Nine Radio’s managing director] over an extended period, and then gaining the support of my wife Sophie, I decided to accept an offer to extend my current deal,’ he said.
‘I’m looking forward to the next three years as much as I’ve enjoyed the past 22 years at 2GB.
‘I’m also excited to be back at the Olympic Games in Paris 2024 – my 7th Olympics – and again, I’ll be the lead commentator at the swimming and track and field (for Nine Radio).
Radio identity Ray Hadley and his wife Sophie Baird
‘If you like what I do, well, I guess you’d be happy. If you don’t like what I do – bad luck.
‘I’ll continue to do what I have always done in broadcasting: try to get justice for those that have been unrepresented and hold politicians to account.
‘I’ll play plenty of country music, and most importantly, try to have fun.’
The broadcaster, 68, was famously offered a job on radio while working as a cab driver after giving the news director a ride in the 1980s.
Since then, he’s become one of the nation’s most trusted media personalities, and has gone on to win 148 consecutive morning radio surveys on Sydney’s 2GB.
‘People quite often denigrate cab drivers. I am referred to as an ex-cabbie as if it’s some sort of an embarrassment,’ Hadley told Media Week.
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‘But there is no mistaking that if I hadn’t driven that cab on that Tuesday night, I wouldn’t be talking to you right now.’
In 2021, Hadley married his former secretary Sophie Baird.
Ray proposed to Sophie – who was his personal assistant for 16 years – in October of 2019 as he left home to call the NRL grand final between the Sydney Roosters and Canberra Raiders at Sydney Olympic Park.
With a combined three previous marriages, the loved-up pair have six adult children.
They include Daniel, 30, and Laura, 28, from Hadley’s first marriage with Anne Marie, Emma and Sarah from his second with Suzanne – and Nick, 21, and Jessie, 19, from Sophie’s previous marriage.
He previously confessed that Baird has made him a happier person.
Speaking to Men’s Health, the radio host admitted: ‘Just being with her calms you down. I was a very unhappy person for a long time.
‘I’m not blaming anyone for my unhappiness, but I was very unhappy. Professionally, I was happy, but personally, I was very unhappy, without knowing I was unhappy or why,’ he said.
Hadley’s been no stranger to the highs and lows of life.
His son Daniel was forced to quit quit the police force in the wake of being charged with possessing cocaine.
Hadley senior has described the heartbreak of learning of his only son’s mental health and drug problems after his widely-publicised arrest.
‘We had no idea that he was battling mentally with these issues – and had been battling, according to his GP – for quite some time,’ he said.
