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One of John Laws' female 'handmaidens' speaks out about his 'truly old school' world - including THAT skirt rule and the 'queen' who ran radio legend's life Talkback titan John Laws died on Sunday Jodee Borgo was Laws's PA for 30 years READ MORE: Radio legend John Laws dead at 90 By STEPHEN GIBBS, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER, AUSTRALIA Published: 04:37 GMT, 10 November 2025 | Updated: 04:44 GMT, 10 November 2025 When the time came to tell the world 90-year-old John Laws had died the sad task fell to Jodee Borgo, his longtime personal assistant. It was Borgo who picked up the phone on Sunday and made the hard calls to the broadcasting giant's former colleagues and senior radio industry figures. Laws famously called female staff his 'handmaidens' - the men were 'foot soldiers' - and his wife Caroline was always 'The Princess'. Just as famously, Laws expected the handmaidens to wear skirts and heels in the office - the rule was unwritten but for any young woman who wanted a job, it was clear. For 30 years Borgo was the queen handmaiden, acting as Lawsie's secretary, social organiser, protector, confidant, and gatekeeper. After Caroline died in February 2020, Borgo became his closest companion. Borgo began working for Laws about 1995 when he was on his fourth stint at 2UE. She stayed with him during his four-year 'retirement' from 2007 and was still by his side at 2SM from 2011 to last year. When Laws finally stepped away from the golden microphone in November 2024 he took time to thank Borgo on air for her role helping him maintain a radio career that began in 1953. Weekend Today co-host Alison Piotrowski was one of Laws's handmaidens at 2UE from late 2004 to the end of 2007, first as a 'phone girl' then junior producer. It was Piotrowski's first job out of university. When the time came to tell the world 90-year-old John Laws had died the sad task fell to Jodee Borgo, his longtime personal assistant. Laws and Bongo are pictured in his Rolls-Royce in 2022 Weekend Today co-host Alison Piotrowski was one of Laws's 'handmaidens' at 2UE and loved working for the king of radio. Piotrowski and Laws are pictured The Nine Network star reporter and presenter remembered Borgo as 'the engine room of the John Laws brand' and said his longtime employee would be grieving. 'She was by his side for decades,' Piotrowski said. 'She was incredibly loyal to him. 'She was the gatekeeper, and probably later in life she was his protector as well, to make sure that he was being respected and he was being looked after. She always just cared about his welfare more than anything.' In a 2013 profile on Laws for The Weekend Australian Magazine, Borgo described the talkback titan as a 'very good boss' and said she had become part of his family. 'Like a fussy mother on an outing, she carries a hessian bag with things he might need,' that feature story explained. 'Fresh orange juice, various pills, diced fruit in plastic containers, eye-drops, a blood-pressure machine.' For the same piece, journalist Greg Bearup asked Laws who his closest friends were so that he might talk to them. 'I don't really have friends,' Laws replied. 'You'll have to ask Jodee. Caroline... if she'd talk... You could talk to Jodee.' Borgo told Bearup her sometimes demanding employer was a good and interesting man but, 'I can't lie, he can be difficult'. For 30 years Borgo was the queen handmaiden, acting as Lawsie's secretary, social organiser, protector, confidant, and gatekeeper. Laws and Borgo are pictured Laws called his wife of 44 years 'The Princess'. After she died in February 2020, Borgo became his closest companion. Laws and Caroline are pictured Reunited with his 'Princess' at last: How John Laws was profoundly affected by wife death In November 1999, Borgo was called to give evidence at the Australian Broadcasting Authority's 'cash-for-comment' inquiry after Laws was accused of secretly presenting paid advertisements as his opinion. Borgo backed Laws's claim that a July 1998 warning from then 2UE chairman John Conde against disguising advertising as news or comment was not directed at him. Her testimony included recounting what Laws told her Conde had said about that memo when the pair held a closed-door meeting. 'Mr Laws said: "Well, he said not to worry about it. It doesn't really concern me, it's more..." and he pointed towards Alan Jones's office,' she told the inquiry. Laws was sometimes accused of being sexist, or at least out of touch with modern sensibilities. In 1976 he had recorded an album titled You've Never Been Trucked Like This Before with a cover featuring three subservient, scantily clad women. In 2013, Laws took a call on his morning program from a woman named Carol who revealed she had been sexually abused by her father, uncles and brothers from the age of six. 'My God they were having a good time with you,' Laws replied. 'Was it in any way your fault? You weren't being provocative?' Carol: 'No, I was just a little girl.' In 1976 Laws recorded an album titled You've Never Been Trucked Like This Before with a cover featuring three subservient, scantily clad women Laws was reportedly bewildered by the outrage that followed. He said he had spoken kindly to Carol, who had not complained, and insisted he was not condoning sexual abuse. [When protesters from activist groups GetUp! and Destroy the Joint converged on the 2SM studios to demand Laws undergo education on sexual assault it was Borgo who was dispatched to deal with them]. Piotrowski told the Daily Mail Laws was 'truly old-school' but she also considered him a feminist. 'I always tell people that he was the ultimate gentleman,' she said. 'He was the kind of man that would still open doors for every woman in the building, including his staff members. He would care about their welfare.' Piotrowski recalled Laws seeing her and another young female producer who had nowhere to park their cars walking to 2UE's Greenwich studios in the dark early one morning. Concerned for their safety, Laws 'hassled management' until they were given parking spaces. 'He was always looking after people,' Piotrowski said. Alison Piotrowski said the Laws edict that his handmaidens wear skirts was about looking professional rather than Laws being sexist. Piotrowski and Laws are pictured 'I remember how interested he was in our thoughts on the news of the day and what was going on in our lives, like he was just always inherently curious. 'I was a 20, 21-year-old with no life experience, no career experience, and I knew nothing, but he still valued your opinion and made you feel heard.' As for the skirt and heels edict, Piotrowski said it was about looking professional rather than Laws being sexist. 'It was about being presentable and looking like a woman,' she said. 'Lawsie was just big on people looking neat and tidy and respectful. 'Like if you were going to a nice dinner your grandparents and your granddad wanted you to look respectable. 'It was just about looking professional. And it wasn't like, he ever sat me down and said, "You must wear a skirt. I want to see your legs." 'It was just when I started in the office, there was a little whisper that, you know, handmaidens looked appropriate.' Piotrowski was conscious when she worked for Laws that some critics thought the skirt rule was, at best, ridiculous. Laws looked frail and inconsolable at his wife Caroline's funeral at St Mark's Anglican Church in Darling Point in Sydney's eastern suburbs 'I was dating a boy at the time and his auntie was just outraged,' she said. 'It was certainly never about sexism. John was actually such a feminist for his time. 'He always wanted to know what the women in his life thought. As a female producer, I felt like I had a really valued voice. 'He would listen to what I had to say. Jodee would be a really strong voice in his ear. His wife, Caroline. He wanted to know what Caroline thought about stuff.' Another former Laws producer, Melanie Tait, penned a piece for news.com.au in 2017 in which she wrote, 'that old-fashioned manner of John's felt respectful to me'. She could not recall Laws ever raising his voice to staff and said he always listened to the story ideas presented by Tait and her young colleagues. If Laws was going to be away from work sick, Borgo - who Tait described as 'one of the most wonderful women I know - would send out a text saying little more than 'Jeans today!' 'If John rallied and decided he’d be in at work after all, we’d get another text saying, "John will be in! Let me know you've got this message or I'll bring in a skirt for you",' Tait wrote in her piece. When Laws finally stepped away from the golden microphone in November 2024 he took time to thank Borgo on air for her role helping him maintain a radio career that began in 1953 Tait, who worked for Laws for nine months in 2007, became an award-winning journalist, producing and presenting radio and podcasts and writing plays. Piotrowski, who remains close to Tait, said Laws always kept track of his former staff, with Borgo's assistance. 'Jodee would be on top of everything,' she said. 'She would keep John updated on what all of his former staff were doing.' It had been 15 years since Piotrowski had worked for Laws when she was appointed Nine's US correspondent. 'I remember I had a phone call from a private number, so I sent it through to voicemail, and then I listened to the voicemail later,' she said. 'And it's like, "Alison, it's John Laws, don't call me back. I just wanted to say that I'm so very proud of you. Go out there and shine like a diamond.'" Share or comment on this article: One of John Laws' female 'handmaidens' speaks out about his 'truly old school' world - including THAT skirt rule and the 'queen' who ran radio legend's life Add comment
