Witty Wippa: It Looked Like a Hell of a Lot of Fun!

By Olivia Arrow

It’s not every day that you get to Interview one of Sydney’s best-known morning radio show voices.   

You’d have to be hiding under a rock to not know who Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli is!  He’s one half of the duo for Nova’s 96.9 Popular Breakfast Radio Show Fitzy & Wippa. 

Knowing that a radio career was a risky move and there weren’t many jobs in the industry, Wippa never shied away and knew this was exactly what he wanted to do as it looked like a hell of a lot of fun.  His father, a smart and wise man, made sure that he had a back-up plan and completed a qualification in Building for the “just in case” scenario, however, he won’t be needing Plan B any time soon.  

Wippa got his first regular gig on the “Hamish and Andy” Saturday morning slot and went on to host a Perth Radio show in 2005. Moving to Nova in 2009 to join the Drive Show, Wippa has had a stellar career, resulting in him and Fitzy taking over Nova’s morning show in 2011.  

Wippa loves what he does and everything it entails, even those early morning starts driven by choice. He has a real passion for making sure that the show is full of entertaining segments and brainstorming great ideas with the team like “Would Matt Shirvington outrun a Kangaroo”? Yep, this is a day in the life of this super talented radio host.   

With all his radio duties, you would think that Wippa couldn’t fit any more into his busy schedule, but hey, this guy finds the time to work on projects that are important to him and City2Surf is one of them. Wippa is an ambassador for this year’s City2Surf and he loves the tradition this community event has started since 1971.  He loves going to City2Surf with his wife and two sons, building fond memories in the process. Being his fifth City2Surf and second with his kids, Jack who’s just turned one and Ted who’s two-and-a-half years old, Wippa’s looking forward to the 14km adventure that will involve pushing a pram, chasing a toddler, but most of all, finishing up with his feet in the ocean and cooling down at the iconic Bondi Beach. 

When Wippa’s not working his morning show or being an ambassador, he’s a hands-on dad and loves spending time with his family.  Living in a city pad doesn’t give them the space they’d love, so they also enjoy short breaks with a big area that the kids can go crazy in.  

So, what would Wippa be doing if he had to retire tomorrow? Maybe write a food blog was his first answer – he’d love to have food being sent to his office to sample and critique, “Nice croissant, I’ll give that 5 stars”.  His second retirement idea he wouldn’t say no to is being on The Bachelor as “The Bachelor” and having his pick of twenty-two women that are fighting to get his attention.  As much as he might like this bachelor idea, his lovely wife Lisa is probably not going to agree on letting him leave to be single for TV purposes anytime soon, and he knows it. 

Wippa is as funny off air as he is on and has such a down-to-earth approach to life and parenting.   

His parting parenting advice is… “Treat your kids like they are really little humans and without a bump and a fall they won’t grow.  When your kids fall over say, “You’re alright” instead of “Are you alright?” As much as we want to protect our kids from everything, if they do happen to fall over, they will get back up.  He also said…“If it’s raining outside, go play in the puddles like Peppa the Pig and make sure your kids are getting involved in real life!” We couldn’t agree with you more Wippa!