The revelation was met with resounding support from callers and from her colleagues, including newsreader Brooklyn Ross – “I’m proud of you, Jackie!” – and, of course, Sandilands.

The latter leaned on humour at first, joking that they should change station billboards to describe Henderson as a “recovering drug addict” versus “current drug user” Sandilands. But he was also, at times, uncustomarily lost for words.

“I don’t know what to say,” he admitted. “I’m scampering around here trying to make light of it, but it’s heavy.”

Sandilands also asked how Henderson came to access so much prescription medication, but she declined to answer. She later described how hard it was – even at her worst – to recognise that she was even stuck in a dark place. “Addiction is a disease, and it warps your way of thinking,” she said. “I just thought a sober life would be the most miserable thing ever.”

The 49-year-old kept her secret to focus solely on her health, with only a small group of trusted confidantes being let in on the extent of her problem.

Henderson’s manager, veteran network executive Gemma O’Neill, was one of them, and ultimately drove the decision to enter rehab, after Henderson initially wanted to taper off the drugs herself.

“I believe she saved my life,” Henderson said of O’Neill, her best friend and business partner. “I actually do.”

Meanwhile, other close friends, extended family, and even her co-host Sandilands were kept in the dark until Thursday morning. “Where do you draw the line?” she said of her decision to close ranks around the personal problem. “I just didn’t want anyone to know until I had at least gotten a year or more of sobriety under my belt.”

Sandilands understood: “I’m sorry you didn’t think that you could share it earlier, but these things do creep up, don’t they,” he acknowledged. “Slowly, slowly.”

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Good Weekend magazine will feature the first exclusive print interview with Henderson about her ordeal this Saturday, in a cover story explaining how she turned to pills and alcohol while feeling “diminished, untethered and alone” in her new life.

Now free of her secret, Henderson opens up in Good Weekend, reflecting on everything from what it’s like working with Sandilands, to embracing singledom in her 40s, and how their show has struggled in Melbourne so far.

On Thursday morning at 10.01am, the otherwise standard instalment of their long-running program ended with a kicker perhaps only Sandilands could make: “Even if you’re on crack, we still love you, Jack.”

* This reporter helped write Henderson’s upcoming memoir, Jackie O: The Whole Truth, published by Random House next Tuesday.

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