Kerri-Anne Kennerley blasts Derryn Hinch for calling her a “cockroach”
The air was thick on Studio 10 this morning when Kerri-Anne Kennerley confronted Derryn Hinch over a comment he made about her in a book several years ago.
Hinch made an appearance on the show and was being interviewed by Joe Hildebrand and Sarah Harris about his new book Unfinished Business – Life of a Senator.
At one point during the interview, Harris referred to Kennerley who wasn’t on the panel at the time: “I understand in one of your books you referred to our colleague Kerri-Anne Kennerley as ‘the cockroach of television’?”
“It was a compliment,” said Hinch. “I was trying to say that she’s a survivor. We both hosted the Midday show.
“She’s a cockroach,” he continued. “If a nuclear war hit your television studio, you may go Sarah, but I bet you KAK will still be there.”
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Harris replied, “Derryn, I don’t think she took it as a compliment”.
It was at that point that Kennerley rushed onto set and confronted Hinch who was joining the program via Skype.
“You wrote in your book I was ‘the television equivalent of a cockroach,’ yes, I’m really flattered,” said Kennerley, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Alright, take it like you want,” said Hinch.
Hinch revealed that Kennerley had raised the comment with him previously when they bumped into one another overseas, and he repeated that he meant it as a compliment.
“Don’t ask me to thank you now,” Kennerley said sternly.
The cockroach comment wasn’t the only one that had rubbed Kennerley the wrong way.
The Studio 10 co-host then said to Hinch: “I will forgive you when you apologise for banging on for years after Midday because you thought you did better.”
Hinch hosted Midday on Channel 9 in 1994 for one year before the show was axed. Kennerley hosted a revived version of the show from 1996 to 1998.
Hoping to end the ongoing feud, Hinch said: “Alright, KAK, I apologise to you”.