Radio star Kyle Sandilands has made no secret of his troubled upbringing, including that he was kicked out of home at 15.
And on Friday’s edition of KIIS FM’s Kyle & Jackie O show, the 46-year-old shared more candid details about what it was really like to be homeless.
In the eye-opening chat with his co-star Jackie ‘O’ Henderson, Kyle revealed he struggled to obtain a homeless allowance and even resorted to living in a horse float at one point.
Unconventional upbringing: On Friday’s Kyle & Jackie O show, Kyle Sandilands (pictured) divulged that he once struggled to obtain a homeless allowance and resorted to living in a horse float
‘I was on the dole forever. Actually it was the homeless allowance,’ Kyle explained.
‘The problem was it took five months to get the homeless allowance. Even though I was a homeless teenager – well I’ve got no house – they’re like “get your parents to fill out this form”. And I’m like “but my parents… they hate me, I don’t live at home.”‘
Kyle claimed that since he knew his parents were unlikely to fill out paperwork of that nature, he found it hard to obtain payments from authorities despite his situation.
‘Like this is a homeless allowance! I don’t have a relationship with the parents! They won’t fill out a form saying they’re horrible parents. What parents are going to fill out that form?’ he exclaimed.
‘Anyway… got a few emergency cheques… bullsh*tted a bit, got a few emergency cheques.’
‘My parents… they hate me’: Kyle admitted it was tricky to obtain payments as the authorities wanted him to get his mum and dad to sign paperwork
The radio personality added that things got so dire that at one point he was forced to use an unconventional space as a home.
He explained that he squatted in a horse float behind a service station, which was one of several vehicles the business was renting out.
‘No one ever rented it. Lucky, because about five of us kids lived in it,’ Kyle said.
Strained relationship: Kyle (right) has previous claimed his late dad Peter (left) could be ‘abusive’ at times
Living rough: Kyle admitted he and ‘five other kids’ called a horse float home
It’s not the first time Kyle has been candid about his dysfunctional childhood: his 2012 memoir Scandalands was dedicated to Australia’s homeless population and detailed his time sleeping rough.
Kyle has also spoken out about his often difficult relationship with his late father Peter, accusing him of being ‘abusive’.
‘I was estranged from him when I was thrown into the gutter as a child and raised by wolves,’ Kyle revealed during a segment on his radio show that featured celebrity psychic Tyler Henry.
He added: ‘There was alcohol with him when he was younger – just him getting drunk and yelling and screaming.’
Candid: Kyle (pictured with radio co-host Jackie ‘O’ Henderson has been open about his difficult upbringing in the past