Broadcaster and saxophonist James Valentine is retiring from the ABC after almost 40 years due to cancer, ending 25 years hosting Sydney’s Afternoons program on ABC Radio.
Valentine, 64, has been a fixture at the public broadcaster since he joined ABC TV in 1987 as host of the children’s afternoon show after a decade of playing in bands including the Models.
In 2024, he revealed live on ABC radio that he had esophageal cancer and was taking time off to undergo surgeryhe said he was “equal parts hopeful and scared.”
He returned after treatment, only to leave again last June when new tumors were discovered.
Valentine had been thinking for some time how to tell his audience that he was leaving again after his arrival I went on the radio twice to reveal the details of his illness.
“It’s sad news, it’s certainly sad news for me,” Valentine said on ABC Sydney on Monday afternoon.
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“It was very difficult for me to make this decision, but look, I think my health is giving me a very clear message that it may be some time until I can come back and start broadcasting.
“[It] It may be another year or six months or more before I have the strength or energy to come back. I think it’s too long. I think it’s time for someone else to say come on [should] Come and take a shot.
“I need to focus on getting better, being with family and friends, and making sure I’m giving my health my best shot.”
Listeners called and texted Afternoons fill-in host James O’Loughlin to express their grief, with many crying on air.
Valentine is beloved for his creativity and offbeat sense of humor. Listeners who called ABC named their favorite segments, including Small Crimes, I Live With Comedian HG Nelson and Conversations, and said they would miss his company.
Valentine wanted to leave the post for good.
“Come in this wonderful shift and do what you can with it … The afternoon is beautiful – there are no limits. It’s kind of infinite.”
His longtime producer, Jennifer Fleming, is putting together a two-hour retrospective of the show on Friday.
“I want to summarize what we’ve done in those 25 years, look at the ways we’ve pushed talkback into completely new territory,” Valentine said.
Valentine, who also worked on Breakfast and Mornings, revealed the cancer was discovered after he “choked and broke down” while eating curry at a party.
A short time later he had a gastroscopy, which revealed a 4cm tumor where his esophagus meets his stomach.
He worked extensively as a musician in the 1980s, playing saxophone in bands with Joe Camilleri, Wendy Matthews, Kate Ceberano, Pseudo Echo and Stephen Cummings. He still plays with the James Valentine Quartet in Sydney.
Drive presenter Thomas Oriti was inundated with texts from listeners who said he could fill the entire program with them.
