Kyle Sandliands reveals he was HIGH during his controversial chat with Karl Stefanovic on 60 Minutes

Shock jock Kyle Sandilands has admitted that he was high on the drug marijuana during his interview with 60 Minutes last year. 

The 49-year-old KIIS FM radio host made the candid admission when speaking to News.com.au this week, about his TV chat with Channel Nine star Karl Stefanovic that aired last May. 

At the time, 60 Minutes was slammed for suggesting in promos that Kyle would reveal he had been secretly battling a serious health condition – only for the radio king to say he was joking when the segment went to air.

‘I was off my head,’ Kyle told News.com.au, saying that even pal Karl knew that Kyle was high during the chat.  

‘High on 60 Minutes, great achievement,’ Kyle added.

Jackie said that everyone on set knew that Kyle was high after using cannabis, including Karl. 

‘I think Karl secretly loved it because he knows he’ll (Kyle) go a little more out there if he’s (high),’ Jackie said.  

At the time of the controversial interview, Channel Nine’s 60 Minutes received an avalanche of criticism, after Kyle’s supposed ‘health crisis tell-all’ was revealed to be nothing but a joke.

And Karl Stefanovic, who hosted the controversial segment, revealed shortly afterwards that he had been targeted by trolls in the aftermath of the broadcast.

‘I had a few [messages] sent through to me that said, “I wish you had something wrong with you, Karlos.” I had quite a few of those,’ he said on The Kyle and Jackie O Show.

The Today show host’s admission was met with hysterical laughter from Kyle and his co-host Jackie O.

‘Did you? What’s wrong with people?’ Karl roared.

Imitating one of his critics, Karl said: ‘Looks like you’ve got a problem with your heartbeat, Stefanovic!’ 

Earlier in the segment, Kyle acknowledged that his joke about having a serious illness had rubbed many viewers the wrong way.

‘We read a lot of [Twitter] haters out this morning, hating on us, hating on 60 Minutes, hating on me mainly,’ Kyle said.

‘And a lot of talk on how red and beetroot-like I looked on the television!’ 

60 Minutes was slammed for suggesting in promos that Kyle would reveal he had been secretly battling a serious health condition – only for the radio king to say he was joking when the segment went to air.

In a preview for the show, Jackie had tears in her eyes as her KIIS FM colleague told her he had been keeping his ‘diagnosis’ a secret for some time.

But Kyle confirmed his big reveal was a wind-up – prompting a furious response from viewers who accused Nine of ‘false advertising’. 

‘I love you and it’s been wonderful,’ Kyle said to Jackie in a trailer.

‘[But] there’s a condition I’ve been diagnosed with I haven’t spoken to anyone about.’

In the full version of the segment that aired, Kyle answered wryly ‘yeah’ when Jackie asked him if he was joking. 

‘You had me – you so had me,’ Jackie responded. ‘That was really cruel – a**hole.’

The stunt drew the ire of former Senator and outspoken commentator Derryn Hinch, who said joking about serious illnesses was no laughing matter.

‘Anybody who has ever been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and had to tell loved ones, would not appreciate Kyle Sandilands’ “joke” tonight,’ he wrote on Twitter. 

Entertainment reporter Peter Ford said 60 Minutes had gone ‘off brand’ by promoting Kyle’s prank as an emotionally charged tell-all interview.

‘One thing for Kyle and Jackie O to pull a prank about a life threatening illness. That’s on brand. Different thing for 60 Minutes to use it in a promo knowing they wouldn’t be delivering. That’s off brand,’ he wrote.

However, Kyle did reveal elsewhere in the program that his blood pressure was so high he could die ‘at any stage, at any time, day or night’.

Shortly after the interview, Kyle said on air that he had been suffering from loneliness and depression and that he had  felt ‘very sad’ and ‘let down’ by those he once considered friends.

Referring to the 60 Minutes interview, he said: ‘The truth as to why I was so able to cry, like all that breakdown stuff so easy, was because inside I’m very sad.’

‘I’m not joking. Inside my person, I’m very sad,’ he added, fighting back tears.

Kyle acknowledged his joke about having a health problem on 60 Minutes ‘wasn’t the right forum’ to address his depression – but clarified the tears were genuine.

He said: ‘Yeah, so I had to make up something was wrong, as a joke. It was real emotion… there is a great sadness in me that I just carry around. Every day.’

If you or anyone you know is struggling, please contact Lifeline or Beyond Blue. 

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Channel Nine for comment, in relation to this story.