24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Khaleej Times
Radio, reality, and a snack empire: Kris Fade's Dubai story
From washing cars and making coffees, Australian DJ and reality TV star Kris Fade has risen to stardom since launching Virgin Radio Dxb in 2007.
Now, he is a successful entrepreneur with his international brand Fade Fit, and a reality star from his role in the hit TV show Dubai Bling on Netflix.
In a chat, he tells City Times about his path to stardom and what keeps him in Dubai.
The Lebanese-Australian came to Dubai when the city was all but unheard of on the world stage, and has seen the emirate move from strength to strength.
A father-of-three, he has dedicated his life to waking up the nation, his 6-10am drive time show becoming the most listened to radio slot in the country, his boundless energy with the team, he says, has become like family, brightening up traffic jams around the emirates.
He sees it as a kind of national service to a city which is constantly plagued by traffic problems. 'That's why radio is so important because it becomes a companion,' he said.
Up at 4am daily, he admits it takes its toll, but the feedback from his fans makes the early mornings worthwhile. 'Don't get me wrong, there will be some mornings when I walk in and I'll be like, I'm tired today, but as soon as it goes six o'clock, I feel like I have a duty to the country as well, to wake them up.'
He says the dynamics of the team are what has kept the show continuously breaking records. 'If I was doing it with the wrong people, I don't think I could be 14 years doing it with the same people,' he said, several of his fans telling him it feels like listening to a radio version of the hit US TV series, Friends.
Dubai has come a long way since a wide-eyed Kris came to the city, his friends and family in Australia somewhat baffled by the move.
'I remember looking on Wikipedia and on Google when I was moving to Dubai, because I wanted to know more about it and I remember Wikipedia in 2007 had half a page on Dubai. That was it. There were about five photos and half a page of writing, and I remember the photo that kept coming up was the Burj Al Arab. Obviously, that was the big hotel,' he says.
'It was definitely a risk to move to a foreign city, a foreign country, and give it a go. But I remember telling mom and dad that I'll be back in a couple of years, to give me two years, let me go do this radio thing in Dubai, and I will take it from there,' but today, he says Dubai will always be home.
'I don't see myself spending anything less than six months in Dubai,' he said, always longing to come back during trips home to Australia.
It was a different Dubai when he moved to the emirate, which has grown exponentially since, with landmarks which have put the city on the world map such as Burj Khalifa, not even complete.
'There weren't as many people, obviously. I remember driving up the main road of Sheikh Zayed Road and, you know, there were no Salik toll gates. There was, I think, one speed camera in place. You could go to the mall and park wherever you wanted.
'It wasn't legal, but people would just park on the footpaths of the mall. JBR was a car park and just sand and a beach. There was no JBR, which was remarkable. I don't think people outside the UAE understand exactly what the city and the country has achieved.'
Watch the video interview by scanning the QR code below:
The young man of 2007 has now bloomed into an international businessman, inspired by his own children. The face of Fade Fit, the brand aims to keep kids off screens with healthy snacks, outdoor play gear, toys and a tennis academy.
'I've got two daughters and a young son, but my two daughters, like myself, are on our screens all the time, and it's, it's not good for us,' he said.
But setting up a business has been a challenge which helped him take his career to new heights, Fad Fit now a multimillion dollar business after he first put Dh30,000 into the company in 2019, which has now expanded to Bahrain, Saudi, Jordan, Kuwait, and Oman.
'It's not as easy as people think it could be to launch a business here,' he says with the humility which has made him a much-loved household name. 'And and I say that because people think you can come to Dubai, start a business, become a multi millionaire, retire and get a yacht and get a private jet.'
While he admits he could retire if he chose to now, he prefers to keep working, putting his efforts into projects which give him a sense of purpose.
But after everything he has achieved, and the worldwide fame Dubai Bling has given him, his number one priority remains his family.
'It's the essence of just being able to relax, you know, amongst the chaos that we have, the chaos of doing radio and events and running a business and trying to remain healthy and doing everything else and just being a good dad and being at home with the kids and spending time with family, I think it is so important,' he concluded.
