ABC Sydney radio presenter James Valentine has retired from the broadcaster as he continues to battle cancer, saying it was time for a fresh host to “have a go at this marvellous shift” in the afternoons.
“It’s time to go,” he told the station’s listeners in a pre-recorded segment on Monday afternoon, after almost four decades with the ABC and 25 years on the Afternoons program.
The veteran broadcaster, who has been off-air for six months battling cancer, returned to the airwaves on Monday during fill-in host James O’Loughlin’s show.
“It’s James Valentine here back in Afternoons, how comfy that feels. Look, I do have an announcement to make, and it’s sad news. It’s definitely sad for me,” Valentine said.
“It’s time for me to retire. This decision has been hard for me to make, but look, I think my health is giving me a pretty clear message that it still might be a while until I could return and resume broadcasting.”
Valentine first told listeners of his oesophageal cancer diagnosis in early 2024, taking an extended leave of absence for surgery.
He made a recovery and was back on air in August that year, but one year later, he announced another break of three months after a second cancer diagnosis – omentum cancer – in June.
The omentum, which Valentine told listeners to Google, is a small part of the body below the stomach.
He has been off-air since, undergoing both immunotherapy treatment and chemotherapy. Recovery could take another year, Valentine said.
Valentine said it was time for someone else to host the program. “Come and have a go at this marvellous shift and do what you can with it,” he said.
ABC managing director Hugh Marks praised Valentine as one of “the great creative forces in Australian broadcasting” and wished him the best with his recovery.
“He has an extraordinary gift for turning everyday moments into joyful, smart and surprising radio, and the connection he has built with his audience over decades simply cannot be overstated,” Marks said.
“We’re proud to celebrate everything he has brought to the ABC, and we wish him strength and support as he focuses on his health.”
Valentine first appeared on the ABC TV in the 1980s, presenting children’s television before joining ABC Radio Canberra and later ABC Radio Sydney in the Mornings slot. In 2001, he moved to Afternoons, where he stayed until a two-year stint as Breakfast host in 2022. He returned to the Afternoons slot in 2024.
The ABC said Valentine would also step back from his jazz program Upbeat. A tribute show, James Valentine Afternoons: Retrospective will be aired this Friday at 12.30pm.
The ABC hasn’t appointed a permanent replacement, but James O’Loghlin, who has been presenting the show since June, will remain on air in the interim.
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Calum Jaspan is a media writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based in Melbourne. Reach him securely on Signal @calumjaspan.10Connect via X or email.