 In 1999, he moved to Sydney, and commenced at 2Day FM as host of the "Hot30 Countdown", replacing "Ugly Phil O'Neil", a former husband of Henderson (Jackie O).Sandilands attributes his radio career taking off to being told by then Group Program Director Jeff Allis to "do whatever you want, just win".Sandilands was paid $255,000 per year while working on the "Hot30".