Merrick Watts has opened up about his “brutal” split from former radio co-host Tim Ross.
Speaking on Nova Podcast’s Head Game, Watts said the breakdown of their partnership in 2009 was “really devastating”.
Watts told host Ant Middleton the split nearly 15 years ago “was brutal, it was tough.”
“It’s not really something I talk about a lot,” he admitted, calling the split “really devastating at the time.”
Listen to the audio in the video above.
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“I was focused on wanting to follow a certain trajectory that I felt innately was the right way to go, and that was probably in conflict to the way we were doing things and the way we were working together,” he continued.
“I think we just exhausted ourselves as a unit and we’d done everything, we’d even lived together, and then I got my own family and got different priorities.”
“Then I kind of wanted to forge my own identity,” Watts explained.
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“It’s taken a long time and still we’re not separated,” he said, acknowledging “it will always be Merrick and Rosso.”
Watts and Ross were known for their iconic radio partnership on the Merrick & Rosso Show, starting out as co-hosts on Triple J in 1998.
The duo then moved to Nova 96.9 in 2001, where they worked alongside each other up until 2009 when Ross announced his departure from the breakfast show.
https://omny.fm/shows/head-game/merrick-watts/embed?style=Cover
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Last year, Watts released his own comedy podcast called Picture Discuss on iHeartPodcast Network Australia.
This isn’t the first time Watts has gotten candid about the breakdown of his partnership and friendship with former radio colleague Rosso.
In 2020, Watts opened up about his relationship with his former co-host, admitting there was “a grudge” between the pair after a missed opportunity to reunite in 2018.
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“To be completely honest, there is a grudge. I’ve been holding a grudge for a period of time now,” he confessed on Hughesy, We Have a Problem
Watts revealed he received a phone call offering the pair “an enormous amount of money” to work together again.
After a brief conversation, Watts revealed Ross “never called” him back about the offer.
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