EXCLUSIVE: The 2 Johnnies on RTÉ departure - 'I don’t think 2FM shared the same ambition as us'

A co-host of the 2 Johnnies has revealed that part of the decision to leave their popular radio slot on RTÉ's 2FM was because he didn't think 2FM "shared the same ambition" as them.

Johnny 'B' O'Brien, one half of the wildly popular podcast, music and comedy duo the 2 Johnnies, revealed that while the ambitious pair "wanted to drive on the radio show", the presenters did not believe the passion was met by the radio station.

2FM is currently facing a shortage of hosts after four of their most popular presenters - Doireann Garrihy, Jennifer Zamparelli and the 2 Johnnies - all announced their imminent departures from the radio station. Doireann Garrihy and the 2 Johnnies are all set to leave the station later today.

Speculation has run rampant on the reason for the multiple departures, with some listeners presuming it related to new payment regulations in the national broadcasting company.

Ms Zamparelli, Ms Garrihy, and The 2 Johnnies all have successful careers outside of the station, and would have been affected by new rules governing RTÉ employees.

The 2 Johnnies had previously admitted on the Brendan O'Connor show that "something had to give" in terms of their busy workload.

In an exclusive interview yesterday, Johnny B confirmed the reason for departure was the pair's busy schedule.

"The lighter workloads may make it a little easier to leave tomorrow," Johnny B said.

"We’ll be sad to finish the show because we absolutely love working with our team, they’re brilliant. We’ve loved the listeners, people have been so good ringing in and telling their stories. But as well as it being sad, it’s also definitely the right move, we’ll have more time to put into the podcast and more time to prepare for our live shows, and they’ll all get better as a result."

As well as their own podcast, Johnny B explained that the duo are busy producing other podcasts. "We were too busy with the podcast, and the plans we have for our own 2 Johnnies company. We executive produce other podcasts as well when we’re not on, when they’re being recorded in our studios in Cahir."

"We are very ambitious and we wanted to drive on the radio show, and I don’t think 2FM shared the same ambition as us. It’s hard to keep everything going, so we said we’d put our energy into our own universe."

The 2 Johnnies revitalised the unpopular drivetime radio slot, with their 'Drive It' show becoming 2FM's most listened-to segment.

"Day by day, by word of mouth more and more people started talking about it. We did the parish quiz every day, 397 parishes around 32 counties. So day by day, a new town was talking about the show," Johnny B said.

Johnny B also explained their popularity by saying that the duo brought something "a bit different" to the 2FM scene.

"When we started, the breakfast show was Doireann, then there was Jen, then Tracy, then us, Tara Kumar, and then Jenny Greene. All presenters from Dublin, and then there was us. So I suppose that’s a bit different."

Speculating on future hosts of the drivetime slot, Johnny B said that co-workers Aifric O'Connell and Aindriú de Paor would be suitable replacements for the 2 Johnnies.

"I think Aifric and Aindriú would do a brilliant job, but anything could happen. By the time that RTÉ start the show back next Tuesday, there will be changes, and you wouldn’t know where they’ll put them or who will be doing our show," Johnny B said.

"It’s really in a state of flux, hard to know who will be doing it."