Who Are The Frontrunners To Score Matt & Alex’s Brekkie Gig On Triple J?

Earlier this morning breakfast presenters Alex Dyson and Matt Okine both announced that 2016 would be their last year working for the Js, revealing in an emotional segment that they would be wrapping up their time at the broadcaster at the end of the year.

But the great wheel of youth broadcasting stops for no one person (or duo), and so you’d imagine that Triple J officials have already begun the process of finding the net batch of breakfast hosts to take over the role from 2017 onwards.

Who are the contenders? Who’s got the inside track? Who are the dark horses in all this fuss? We’ve thrown together a list of heads who you might be getting familiar with in the mornings next year.

Current cornerstones of the afternoon Drive shift, the pairing of Veronica & Lewis is rock solid and pretty well suited to a shift to the AM, provided they’re keen to set the alarm for that early.

Though that said, that causes another headache for Triple J bosses in finding replacement Drive hosts, and the duo seems fairly settled in that cozy afternoon timeslot for the time being.

Weekend arvo hosts and frequent fill-ins for Matt & Alex, particularly over the past 12 months. They’ve ably handled morning duties, including putting together more than a handful of ‘Like a Version‘ broadcasts.

Both have cut their teeth in Breakfast presenter-pathway shifts like Weekend Breakfast and the wild Mid-Dawn loop.

If we were betting people, we’d slap down a solid lobster on them getting the call up.

Another duo who have ably provided fill-in duties for Matt & Alex in the past. Hussain & Hing aren’t current regular hosts on the Triple J airwaves, but their fill-in roles have stocked them up with plenty of experience.

You’d think if the Js decided to look outside their own halls, that these two would be their first port of call.

And now, the slightly more unlikely, but nonetheless interesting options.

Getting Van Vuuren and Boshier in, either in-character as the Bondi Hipsters or as their own equally as engaging selves, would help Triple J tap into the digi video/YouTube crowd in a massive and very immediate way.

Having wrapped another season of ‘Soul Mates‘ for the ABC, a very casual shift down the hall to the radio station could well be in order.

Despite a few little hiccups on the ole’ social media as of late, and going on a very ill-informed rant about how most modern music is “shite” or something, and the very real possibility that being faced with filling hours of content on a daily basis would cause his version of the show to devolve into watery Tony Robbins-style self-actualisation bullshit, the idea of putting your friend and mine Friendlyjordies on the airwaves full time would nonetheless give the network a shot in the arm as far as attention goes.

A long shot, to be sure, but the conversation bears having his name involved, if only for a nanosecond.

One of the brightest young comedic talents in the country, and a pretty perfect fit for the roles that Triple J are trying to fill right now.

Becky’s appeared on the Js on multiple occasions, including a rollicking stand-up set at this year’s Good Az Friday. Bring her up with a comedian m8 like… say… a Cameron James or a Tom Walker or a Sam Campbell and watch the whole show careen off a cliff into glorious, glorious madness. That’s must-listen radio, right there.

Another one to file under “almost definitely not gonna happen,” largely because the Aunty Donna machine incorporates much more than just the three legends who appear on screen. But the new kings of Australian sketch comedy also happen to have themselves a bloody entertaining podcast, so the switch to radio might not be as far-fetched as you might think.

Given their extended production and creative unit and their propensity for silliness, a character-heavy, batshit crazy version of Breakfast might be exactly what the show needs right now.

On the other end of the spectrum, the time is absolutely perfect to have one of the strongest (and funniest) Indigenous voices in the country move up to a prominent daily role. It might seem a little bit of a pipe dream given Nakkiah’s previous uninhibited criticisms of Triple J head honchos over a range of issues, particularly their decision to leave the Hottest 100 on Australia Day. But giving Indigenous Australians an informed and entertaining voice on a daily basis sounds like a winner of an idea as far as we’re concerned. Hell, go the whole hog and bring Tom Tilley up from Hack to put a more journalistic and informative spin on the tried-and-true format.

You could resurrect the Friday Fuckwit, but this time instead of it being some random goose, it’d be the Minister for Immigration. Every week. Until he changes his shitty ways. Which he will not.

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That’s just a mere handful of what must be oodles of people putting their hands up for the plum gig.

And though all are absolutely bloody worthy of holding Matt & Alex’s legionnaires hats, our pick is Kyran & Gen.

It could well be a big bloody 2017 for the New Mates.