Radio hosts Nate Nauer and Nickson Clark have revealed the emotional fallout they both experienced following Nauer's sudden departure from the Mai FM breakfast show.
On his new podcast Run It Straight, Nauer admitted he "didn't want to know" Clark following the break up of the Mai Morning Crew, and felt betrayed by his colleague after learning actor/presenter Jordan River had been approached as his potential replacement.
"Here's some truth. I was angry at this guy," Nauer revealed while pointing to Clark, who appeared on the show with his new co-host River.
"I was like: 'Why didn't you have my back?'" Nauer continued.
"Then I sat down with some people who I really respect and they were like 'Bro, this guy's been having your back for the last three years'."
Clark confessed he had suffered "anxiety attacks and headaches" when Nauer didn't show up for work, which happened on the show's first day back for 2020.
Nauer admitted he'd had a "bender" that weekend, and was given warnings at work.
"I've got nothing but respect for my former managers. They've looked after me," Nauer said. The broadcaster added that at the time, he felt he and Clark were "cruising" with the success of their show, and he began to find it "boring".
Meanwhile, Clark had reached out to River as a "back up plan," knowing that Nauer's future on the show was uncertain.
"Nate decided to pack up and leave," Clark said.
"Through that process, I was so genuinely guts [sic]," he told Nauer.
"I was so upset knowing that we had that past, that history, and it came to such an abrupt ending."
Clark said he had tried to call Nauer and make peace, but his phone calls went unanswered.
"That was it for me. I was like, 'I don't wanna know you anymore'," Nauer told Clark.
"You didn't pick up my phone calls," Clark said. "I legitimately wanted to make peace with that because I knew in my heart, I was like: 'Shucks, I don't want it to end like that'."
Now four months on from Nauer's exit from the show, the pair appear to have patched things up, along with River, whom Nauer admitted he "wanted to bash" at first.
Clark told Nauer that when considering the next host for the show, he wasn't looking for "another Nate," but felt it was important to find a new "voice for the people", praising the "special personality" Nauer brought to the show.
For his part, River said he felt "privileged" to have taken up the mantle, and was said he felt his and Nauer's "love for the people" was the same.
