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‘Gutter Politics’: Sam Dastyari joins Kyle & Jackie O show

Former Labor senator Sam Dastyari is back in the public spotlight.

Former Labor senator Sam Dastyari is back in the public spotlight. Photo: AAP

Months after quitting Parliament amid a donor scandal, former Labor senator Sam Dastyari has accepted a new on-air radio role with the Kyle & Jackie O Show.

Mr Dastyari will be the star attraction of a new segment, Gutter Politics, where he join KIIS FM hosts Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O Henderson to discuss federal politics once a fortnight, according to The Daily Telegraph.

The Sydneysider passed a two-show trial in which he recounted tales from Canberra, including a bizarre anecdote about a cat owned by a former girlfriend of a young Malcolm Turnbull, and opined on the Barnaby Joyce saga.

“Having had my own career burn out in spectacular fashion, I’m pretty well placed to talk about scandal and politics,” he told News Corp.

“There is no doubt I’ve ruffled a few feathers in Canberra with the segment.”

Mr Dastyari quit politics late last year over his connections to political donors alleged to have links to the Chinese government.

The Coalition slammed him as a “foreign agent”, giving him nicknames such as “Shanghai Sam” and “Szechuan Sam”, before he bowed to political pressure to quit.

Since leaving Parliament, Mr Dastyari has also taken a job with Essential Media.

Last week, the colourful personality appeared on the radio show and told a story about a Liberal MP who was reported to own a pub with bikini waitresses.

He also suggested former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce was having a breakdown, likening the New England MP to Charlie Sheen, but without the drugs.

“It’s weird behaviour … I think we have a bloke here who is just breaking down, the way Charlie Sheen did, in front of the public spotlight,” he said.

He also suggested his friends and foes in Canberra had been uneasy about his new gig.

“Do you know how many pollies called me last night and said, ‘Hey, how you doing? Haven’t spoken in months! … Hey, by the way, remember that thing that happened, you’re not going to talk about that, are you?’

“It just revs me up more.”

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has been a regular guest on the Kyle and Jackie O show, with Sandilands introducing him as the “future prime minister”.

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