Sammy Power dies aged 55 

Former radio presenter turned chief executive of Farmers Markets Sammy Power has died aged 55.

Friends of the Queensland woman, once dubbed the ‘Queen of Radio’, confirmed her death on Sunday.

Power was found dead in her bedroom in Hendra after a long-term battle with alcoholism and mental illness.

Tributes have flooded in for Power on social media, with friends and colleagues remembering her as a ‘gifted’ and ‘intelligent’ person.

Ms Power said she was ‘fat and didn’t have a boyfriend’ with both factors leading her to make a dramatic change

‘Very shocked and saddened to hear about the death of Sammy Power,’ ABC Brisbane breakfast radio host Loretta Ryan tweeted. ‘I can still hear her talking about her cats and her infectious laugh.’

‘First Gary Ord and now Sammy Power. We’ve lost two Brisbane breakfast radio presenters within a week. Stunned,’ former radio presenter Spencer Howson tweeted.

‘When Sammy was “on,” she made the sun shine on you, and that was a real gift of hers,’ a friend who requested to remain anonymous told The Courier Mail.

‘She had a wicked sense of humour, but she got sucked in by all these people who tried to help her, all they were after was her money. 

‘I think her body just gave out – she was one minute telling people she was sober, but the next was going home and drinking – people who saw her recently said she was “completely yellow,” which is a sign of liver failure.’

Power left her 28-year radio career in 2014 to help her mother run the market business, which sparked a new focus on her body and a dramatic change in her life.

In an interview with Daily Mail Australia in 2017, Power opened up on her previous health issues and her battle with the bulge. 

She said she was ‘fat and didn’t have a boyfriend’ and both became factors in why she ultimately decided to make a change. 

Power celebrated her 50th birthday by marrying – and then divorcing – herself in 2014

Power revealed she halved her 122kg weight by ditching alcohol and cigarettes, eating well – and covering her bathroom in motivational quotes. 

‘I was carrying around an entire extra person and I wanted to break up with that person,’ she said at the time.  

‘I would be stuffing down extra Twix and Mars bars without even realising. You know at around 2.30pm when you’re tired and eat 700 biscuits? I needed to have an electric shock practically to stop doing that.’  

The media personality found writing down what she was eating every day opened her eyes to how many extra calories she was consuming.

‘My bathroom wall looks like a psycho’s out of CSI. It’s covered in quotes. My favourite ones are Nike’s “just do it” and “day one or one day – you decide”,’ she said. 

Power celebrated her 50th birthday by marrying – and then divorcing – herself in 2014.

She invited 120 of her friends and family to her elaborate, fancy dress-themed nuptials where she wed a cardboard cut out of herself in commemoration of a year of important life changes. 

Earlier that year, Power changed her Facebook status to ‘in a complicated relationship’ writing: ‘No man can cope with my greatness.’ 

Power stepped away from radio to enjoy a more quiet life out of the limelight, and grew her mother’s market business from humble beginnings in a Gold Coast car park to three thriving locations in Manly, New Farm and Mitchelton.

More to come.  

After kicking her smoking and alcohol habits, the presenter trained five days a week with her personal trainer Simon Kerle