Duncan Garner has confirmed legal action is taking place against MediaWorks over the abrupt removal of talkback station Today FM from the airwaves - but revealed he won't be a part of it.
He also openly discussed the pain the public on-air "betrayal" has caused him and his family.
The station was abruptly shut down in March within hours of the MediaWorks board opening a staff-wide consultation into its future. A new music station was subsequently launched in its place.
Opening the first episode of his new podcast Editor In Chief, Garner said that he stands by his description of the show's abrupt removal as "betrayal", but also explained why he'd chosen to stay with MediaWorks.
"MediaWorks engaged with me, they never sacked me, they asked me to think about content, what I could do, how I could do it," he said after reliving the final on-air moments of Today FM with his former colleague Tova O'Brien.
"They were keen on some kind of working relationship, we just had to work on what it was. One night I had to make a decision - was I going to join the legal action, or stay and take up the offer to podcast. I've worked with these people in this company for 20 years plus, I knew it wasn't personal, I love broadcasting, I stayed on. We're going to replicate our show online, what we had on Today FM. I've grabbed this opportunity to move on," Garner said.
Garner also told his new audience it was the first time he had heard those moments since it happened in March.
"I've not been able to bring myself to listen to the final few moments of Today FM, it's been brutal," he explained, before revealing more about the fallout from the station being shut down after an hours-long consultation process.
"It wasn't handled well, when you're taken off air in that kind of fashion - these things take a life of its own. How can I stay on after all that jazz?
"My family took it hard, as did I, and I had to make sure they're ok, they're protected from all the public stuff and I had to protect them as this was such a public fall.
"Was I gutted? Of course. Did it hurt? Of course. Was it done well? Of course not, but there's no handbook about shutting down radio stations," he said.
"How has it been? I won't mince my words, it's been f**king awful, it's been really, really difficult. Still even today as I was heading off to work, [my mum] was asking 'why can't I get you in the car?'"
Garner also revealed the impacts it had on his son, Buster, noting: "My son, I had to tell him that day we all went under - but he knew, he saw it on social media."
"I take nothing from my colleagues who have chosen another route, which is the legal route, but I just want to work and Mediaworks have committed," Garner went on.
"Within days of the demise, [MediaWorks interim CEO] Wendy Palmer asked to meet me to discuss [an] opportunity. I tentatively agreed, they seemed genuine.
"Life is full of ups and downs, life is grey, it's not black and white.
"I've chosen to stay with the only profession I know - journalism and broadcasting," he said.
