A controversial stunt by The Rock radio station is set to go ahead this evening, where a man will find out – on live radio – that his wife wants a divorce.
The Rock's winning contestant, 'Sam', has just revealed on-air that she is a woman, and will be breaking the news to her husband - not the other way around, as most listeners were assuming.
As part of their "male-targeted" Win a Divorce Valentine’s Day promotion, the station is paying the full divorce costs for Sam, who will divorce her unsuspecting husband live on air at 5.20pm.
Sam has until 5.20 to change her mind.
Sam, who entered the competition because she couldn’t afford to hire a divorce lawyer, told the station she had “been married four years, and I think I've met someone else”.
The station states on their website that the divorce giveaway will help Sam “prepare to get his life back by ditching the ball and chain”.
“Across our fair land there are hundreds of poor blokes who thought they married an angel who, in fact, turned out to be Satan in a dress,” the site states.
One of the conditions of entry was that the person being divorced had to find out live on air, something radio host Jono Pryor says has gathered a lot of negative feedback.
That feedback has come from a range of sources, including Family First and commenters on the station’s Facebook page.
Executive director of Home and Family Counselling Mary Gray said the promotion was “cowardly and disrespectful”
“We would like to see anyone breaking off a relationship to do so with courage and respect.”
Station manager Brad King said the stunt was “tongue-in-cheek” and “male-targeted”.
In a poll on the Rock’s website today, 47 percent of people said the station shouldn’t go ahead with the on-air call. Thirty-nine percent said it should go ahead, and 14 percent weren’t sure – but said they would be listening.
3 News