Veteran 2GB radio announcer Brian Wilshire has died aged 81

Veteran 2GB radio host Brian Wilshire has died aged 81.

His colleague Michael McLaren announced his death during his program on Wednesday, remembering him as “a gentleman in the truest sense of the word.”

“In an industry that’s got a reputation for being pretty cutthroat and brutal, you always managed to retain a certain dignity and a fair nature, and that went against the shock jock stereotype,” he said.

“Now that’s not to say that I never saw you angry or hurt. I did, but when I did, it was often because you felt your achievements weren’t properly recognised. 

“He dominated his time slot for so long that some probably assumed that, well, anyone could rate over 20 per cent on nights, survey after survey, year after year. 

“But those that know a little bit about this craft well, they’ll tell you, success like that, which Brian attained, doesn’t just happen by chance. 

“It’s earned, it’s honed, it’s crafted.”

McLaren said Wilshire was a beautiful man with a wonderful sense of humour that loved what he did, and his family even more.

He credited Wilshire for paving the way for shows such as MAFS with his midnight matchmaker segment.

“I happen to know we have a number of people listening right now who met the love of their life thanks to Brian and matchmaker,” McLaren said.

“Some might even recall the old slogan, no tat, no fat.

“And when you think about it, it was a courageous thing to do, putting complete strangers together … before online dating and apps and all of that, just men and women who listened to the radio and were looking for love, there were matchmaker balls.”

Wilshire hosted the number one rated weeknight show on 2GB for 36 years holding more than 30 per cent Sydney’s audience numbers.

Another colleague Jason Morrison remembered Wilshire a lovely man and gentlemen of the business.

“Brian probably never got the recognition he deserved – but no-one has held the air on the station for as many years as he did,” he said.

Radioinfo reports Wilshire retired last decade after starting his career at 2NZ in 1969, followed by stints in Tamworth and Canberra before relocating to Sydney with 2UE.

He was a drummer in the band Stringybark and would play outside the North West Sydney shops.

He told Radioinfo when he retired the reason he went into radio to fund his motor racing habit after his days beachcombing for soft drink bottles for money came to an abrupt end.

“The highlight of that hobby was a class win in the 1993 Bathurst 12-hour race for production cars, in a Nissan Pulsar SSS,” Wilshire told Radioinfo upon his retirement.

“Radio has been an equally wild ride and I’d like to thank my loyal listeners and everyone at 2GB.”

In 2005, Wilshire was taken off the air and later apologised for comments he made about the Cronulla race riots - branded “disgraceful” by then-NSW Premier Morris Iemma.

“Many of them have parents who are first cousins whose parents were first cousins,” he said on air during his night-time slot. 

“The result of this is inbreeding - the result of which is uneducationable (sic) people ... and very low IQ.”

Wilshire told Network 10 at the time he understood his comments may have caused offence to some members of the Lebanese community.

 “I unreservedly retract those comments and I apologise for any offence that might have been caused,” he said.