After seven years, Scott "Scotty" Masters was back behind the microphone on Wednesday morning as one-half of 2CA's new breakfast show.
Masters, who was joined by Paul Holmes for The Classic Breakfast with Holmesy and Scotty show, was shockingly sacked by fellow Canberra radio station 104.7FM in 2015.
The presenter was on holiday from his long-running Scotty and Nige breakfast program on the Canberra FM station when he got the "don't come in Monday" call. Not only did Masters describe the call as a complete surprise that left him without the chance to say goodbye to his audience, but it prompted fans to start a petition to reinstate the presenter at the station.
The petition did little in the way of reinstating the presenter's Canberra FM job, and in the past seven years, Masters has spent his time doing voiceover work for broadcast advertisements, as well as starting his own digital marketing company, Scott Masters Media, and Smoke Masters Barbecue, an American-style barbecued meat company.
But now, he can re-add "presenter" to his list of current professions, with Wednesday's breakfast show giving a small glimpse of what's to come from the radio duo before their first full show on Thursday.
And it seems Masters isn't letting the nerves get to him - although the early wake-up calls might take some getting used to.
"I did radio for 25 years and then famously the rug was pulled out from under me at the time," Masters said.
"But you don't do something every day for 25 years and forget how to do it. I might be a little bit rusty when we start but I think it'll come back pretty quickly and I'm pretty excited about what's ahead for the year.
"I've got my alarm set for Thursday morning - because Wednesday morning is just an hour and a little bit - but Thursday morning the alarm is set for 2.59am so it will be a bit of a rude awakening.
"I think I've forgotten how tired breakfast radio makes you so I've got that to look forward to at some point this year. But I'm turning 50 in April and older people don't sleep as much so I'll be fine."
Like any good partner in crime, Holmes said he has the Salvation Army brass band on standby, ready for an impromptu performance outside Masters' bedroom window should he sleep through his first alarm.
The show is also somewhat of a radio reunion for Holmes and Masters. The pair first met in the late 1990s when they were both working at Today FM in Sydney.
They have kept in contact over the years, and when Holmes' previous radio co-host Jen Seyderhelm left the show last year, he originally went to Masters for some ideas for replacements.
It was these discussions that led to the duo scoring their first ever on-air gig together.
"I haven't been in Canberra as long as Scotty has," Holmes says.
"So what Scotty brings to the show is a lot of local knowledge and context through his businesses as well as his time on the air with the evil empire over the road [Canberra FM], that's what I think Scotty brings to the program.
"I've only been here a few years and if you take COVID out of that, I've only been here a year-and-a-half. It's tricky, but we want to be focused on what's going on here in Canberra and surrounding areas. And also what's going on in the world as well. So it's kind of that line somewhere."
So what can listeners expect from Masters' return?
According to the radio host, his time on the airwaves will be very similar to when he was on air with Nigel Johnson. His goal is just to have a good time.
"My whole ethos back then - and I said it to Paul when we first started talking about this - is if I can make Paul laugh in the morning, then there's a good chance that audience is going to laugh along as well," Masters said.
"And if I can make him laugh, then I think half the battle is done. So that's the way I'm approaching it. Laughter is good for the soul."
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