Triple M Newcastle breakfast presenters Tanya Wilks and Steve Graham renew contract for three years

The station's general manager Ashley Myatt said he hoped the stint was the "absolute bare minimum" for the radio announcers, whose program has consistently rated number one in the breakfast slot this year, and has been in the top spot for almost every listener survey in Newcastle for the past three.

"I think that the chemistry you get, whether it's built over time or instantaneous, that's the X factor you hear a lot about on talent shows but we are lucky to have it on air," Mr Myatt said.

Tanya Wilks and Steve Graham said they had been surprised by their compatibility on air when they began presenting together on Triple M Newcastle, formerly KOFM, five years ago.

"We're very lucky," Graham said. "We've had wonderful partners in the past but this time we went 'Wow, okay'. This time we're a little extra connected in the brain," he said. "It's ridiculous."

"We're very similar people in the sense we share the same moral outlook and similar sense of humour and ... we get each other," said Wilks.

The pair said they shared a goal of making people smile each day.

"All we hear is how people are so stressed, they are struggling and doing it tough," Graham said, "If we can give them some relief on the way to their stressful day then we're winning.

"A lady phoned us at the station this morning, we didn't put her to air, she was on her way to a mammogram and she was nervous and anxious. She simply rang up to say thank you for putting a smile on her face and making her laugh before the mammogram," Wilks said.

"As Steve said, if we can get a smile on people's dial then we are doing our job."

The pair mentioned they still get a kick out of surprising each other.

"There's the guests he's been able to bring in over the years that I've loved and then there's the way his brain is wired," Wilks said. "He'll take something I'm talking about and we'll end up over here. That's beautiful. That's the everyday surprise."

Both nominated a mystery interview with actor Richard Roxburgh that Graham set up as one of their favourite moments on air.

"Because Tanya loves him but she couldn't guess his voice, she had no clue," Graham said. "I nearly had to write his name down and tell her who it was because it was getting ugly," he said.

"They had to go 'garden shed', 'rake', and then I was like 'Oh, it's Richard,'" Wilks said. "I loved it. That was heartfelt."

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