Kyle Sandilands claims to have beaten former Today host Karl Stefanovic to securing an interview with alleged war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith as one of the first guests on his new show Kyle Sandilands Live, betting listeners will pay $99 a year to listen to guests including the disgraced soldier.

The sacked radio host will launch his new show on his subscription platform next week, which will be more political than his KIIS FM broadcasts as he spends time with One Nation politicians after his legal battle with his former employer.

Sandilands told this masthead he had gloated to Stefanovic about securing the interview with Roberts-Smith, who the pair were both chasing, as the former SAS soldier defends five charges of war crimes and faces a potential life prison sentence.

He said he had asked Stefanovic whether he had arranged to interview Roberts-Smith. “He went ‘ah…’,” Sandilands said, before the former KIIS FM broadcaster boasted: “I’ve got him locked.”

Sources close to the former soldier disputed that Sandilands had locked in a conversation with Roberts-Smith, or even had direct discussions about the prospect.

The potential interview with the soldier, who was found by a civil court to have ordered the execution of a captive in cold blood and is fighting related criminal allegations, shows how Sandilands could follow Stefanovic’s playbook of courting the political Right after departing from mainstream media.

But Sandilands has denied that going down the path of conservative politics is about money, claiming that Stefanovic’s show is not proving lucrative, and dismissing comedian Dave Hughes’ recent political awakening. “I don’t know what the f---’s going on with Hughesy, but I’d love to have him on,” he said.

Sandilands was sacked by ARN in March after an on-air blow up with his former co-host Jackie “O” Henderson, who he is accused of bullying. The pair both sued the company. Sandilands settled his case in June, securing around $12 million and the ability to get back on air.

After a campaign by activist group the Mad F---ing Witches plagued his last two years on commercial radio and cost Sandilands’ employers more than $30 million, he has designed his new show to avoid advertising, offering a direct-to-consumer product for $99 a year, or $1.90 a week.

“I had to dodge those left lunatic Witch people. They’re f---ing a nightmare, those old trolls,” Sandilands said.

Witches founder Jenny Hill said the group would wait to see Sandilands’ new broadcasts before deciding whether to target his independent project, but had heard similar insults before. “If wanting equality and safety for women is a ‘lefty’ position then so be it,” she said.

Sandilands has no regrets over his conduct toward Henderson, instead shifting much of the blame onto his former co-host.

“I don’t regret saying the comments to Jackie because it needed to be said. If it brought on an early exit from the show and the implosion of that show, then that’s unfortunate. But what are we supposed to do? Just pretend here for the rest of the nine years that everything’s fine?” Sandilands said.

“I think, really in my heart, and I could be completely wrong... think that she only has this legal position to be in, or she’s f---ed,” Sandilands said.

He said he did not blame ARN for backing away from its decade-long contract with him andhad even urged his friend, TV host and entertainer Sophie Monk, to accept an offer from ARN as the network desperately tries to recover advertisers.

“Sophie rang me yesterday again from Fiji,” he said. “They’ve been chasing her like three or four times. I said look, just f---ing take the job. Someone’s gonna get the money.”

But he also claimed that ARN was a “house of cards”. Since it announced a $200 million contract with Sandilands and Henderson in 2023, ARN’s share price has cratered, chief executive Ciaran Davis has departed, and hundreds of staff have been made redundant.

Sandilands said he hoped not to testify against Henderson by ARN, whose picture he still has on his office wall, after the company was given leave to use one of his legal filings against her, but would not “go to prison for her” by refusing to show up if asked.

ARN, which operates the Gold and KIIS networks, declined to comment.

Sandilands said his court battle with ARN had changed his view of the legal system. “I really was under the stupid impression, like quite foolishly, that the justice system looks after everyone, whether you’re cashed up or not, and I was quite surprised that if you don’t have the cash, you’re screwed.”

Self-described as “right of centre,” Sandilands plans to push further into politics with his new show, backed by a developing relationship with Hanson, who he recently dropped at Sydney Airport in his Rolls-Royce, and her star recruit, Barnaby Joyce.

However, he has told Joyce that One Nation had a “messaging issue” after spending a night chatting on a boat, arguing it should focus on issues such as crime rather than an outlandish scheme to divert Queensland’s rainfall to the south.

“When you actually look into what their policies are, they’re not as bad as what you think,” he adds.

Putting his own show to air without Henderson isn’t the only major change Sandilands has had to make. He said he used to “love a couple of lines back in the day”, but has given the habit up after a well-documented brain aneurysm last year.

“I want to stay alive for my child. So, the thrill of having a line versus dying, it was a no-brainer contest. I decided to hang the nostrils up and just be a nice dad.”

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