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Source: Photos.com -
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A radio stunt giving away an all-expenses paid divorce on Valentine's Day has shocked listeners of the often-controversial The Rock FM.
Robert Taylor and Jono Pryor, hosts of the The Rock FM's Drive, have put on 'the Valentine's Day divorce', in which a listener can have their divorce paid for by the radio station on the condition the news is broken to the unsuspecting spouse on air.
Pryor said the feedback they received through texts and emails surrounding the giveaway had not been complimentary, saying it was unfair on the other person.
"There's a lot of people who are very much against the idea of us giving away a divorce, because, the twist is, the people you are married to cannot know you want to divorce them until you do it on the radio," Pryor said on air.
The Rock FM manager Brad King defended the stunt, telling Fairfax Media it was a "tongue-in-cheek" gag aimed at their male-targeted audience.
The station says on its website the stunt is to "help those oppressed citizens and liberate them from the shackles of a dud marriage so they can live free to drink beer, watch sport and ogle gorgeous ladies".
Despite the negative feedback, a man has already put his name forward to win the divorce, which will be aired live on Tuesday.
'Sam' said he had been thinking of divorcing his wife for a while, and, when the opportunity presented itself, thought it was the right time.
"We've been married four years and I think I've met someone else," he told the radio station.
The man defended his decision, saying it was a good opportunity because he does not have the funds to hire a divorce lawyer.
"It's my life and people can think what they want but it's my happiness."
Paige Wright, a news reader for the radio station, has voiced her disapproval of the stunt, saying it was the worst possible way to give someone life-ruining news.
"I just don't even think it's funny. It's not even mildly entertaining," she said on air.
"That's something that should be done in private and should be discussed maturely."
Comments on the station's Facebook page, however, have been mostly supportive, although some confess the giveaway may be going too far.
Only one person strongly protested, saying "you have gone too far with this one and I will no longer be calling myself a listener of this station".
Pryor and Taylor host the controversial but popular Wind up your Wife, where listeners phone their partners on air and tell them bad news to spark a negative response.
A condition of the divorce competition is that no children are involved in the relationship.
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