EXCLUSIVE
Broadcaster Alan Jones ‘is an absolutely broken man’, friends have revealed, left ‘completely devastated’ by historic allegations of indecent assault, which he denies.
The radio veteran ended months of silence on Sunday when he released a video detailing the serious health issues that had delayed his planned return to the online channel.
The 82-year-old defiantly vowed to eventually resume his broadcasting career after returning to Australia from Britain.
However, Jones’ close supporters said it was not just his physical problems but also the mental trauma inflicted by the indecent assault claims that were responsible for his public absence.
In the wake of a series of stories in Nine Newspapers in December alleging he had preyed on young men during his long career, Jones held talks with his confidantes at his luxury apartment in the ‘Toaster’ building on Sydney’s Circular Quay .
The allegations were described by Jones’ lawyers as “demonstrably false” and he has not been charged.
The former King of Sydney talkback radio left for London shortly after the allegations were published; a trip that Jones said had long been planned on Sunday to celebrate his godson’s 21st birthday and attend some West End shows.
A close friend said Jones needed a break because he was “really struggling to come back from his latest health issues.”
The friend said that Jones, who has undergone several back and neck surgeries, “took much longer than expected to recover from the surgery, that his health had deteriorated rapidly and that he was “basically just getting old.”
Now that he has returned from London, Jones announced that his plans to get back behind the microphone have been postponed due to a new wave of health problems.
Former radio announcer Alan Jones ‘is an absolutely broken man’, friends have revealed, and has been ‘completely devastated’ by historic indecent assault allegations, which he refutes
In the video released Sunday, he said reiterated his denial of the Nine allegations and said the reason for his absence from Australia was not what was suggested in the media.
“I will not elaborate here on the allegations made about me, other than to fully refute them and the inferences attached to them,” Jones said.
“But the ‘Get-Jones’ campaign is nothing new in my life.”
The former Wallabies rugby union and rugby league coach said the timing of his trip to London fully coincided with the publication of the allegations.
Mr Jones was the subject of stories in Nine Newspapers alleging he had preyed on young men during his career, which his lawyers described as ‘demonstrably false’. Mr Jones repeated his denial again in a video released on Sunday.
He said he went to England as part of a long-standing promise to his 21-year-old godson to see the “best of London’s West End theatres”.
Jones denied he was in London to ‘seek help’ from Jake Thrupp – the co-founder of Jones’ broadcaster ADH TV.
Thrupp is studying at King’s College in Britain with financial support from Jones, but the broadcaster said his protégé was on holiday in Bali for most of the time he was in London.
The intention was to return to the air in February, via the online platform ADH TV, but health problems threw a spanner in the works.
“I plan to eventually return to broadcasting, that’s what I do,” Jones said.
‘My work has been my life. I could have retired, but as I have often said, ‘if you quit, you lose weight’.”
The view from an apartment in the Toaster, the Circular Quay building where Alan Jones sat at home with friends and revealed his devastation over allegations he completely denies
Alan Jones has had back and neck surgery over the years (above broadcaster in 2021), but a friend said he ‘really struggled to bounce back’ this time
But Jones, who had recently been seen walking with the help of a cane, said he had been putting off the operation for some time due to public commitments but had been told he now urgently needed to address the issues that were “causing traumatic problems”. pain’.
The pain was so great that it required a home visit from his doctor, who “recommended medication and appropriate medical intervention.”
The doctor advised Jones to stop working immediately until his health problems were resolved.
“I haven’t suffered from mental aging, but I live with two choices: constant pain where painkillers become completely ineffective,” Jones said.
‘Or powerful medications with side effects such as loss of dexterity and movement and irregular sleep.’
