Popular MyTalk 107.1 hosts Lori and Julia announce their surprise retirement

"Lori & Julia," the popular drive-time divas on MyTalk 107.1 FM, announced their retirement on air Tuesday afternoon.

Lori Barghini and Julia Cobbs have been the franchise personalities for 22 years on MyTalk, the Hubbard radio station that specializes in talking about entertainment, gossip and topics that appeal to women. Neither Cobbs nor Barghini, who is married to Cobbs' brother, had radio experience but they were close friends and business associates at various companies and entrepreneurs promoting Bodyperks.

The announcement of their retirement came out of the blue Tuesday when Barghini declared to their listeners: "We need to talk."

"MTFA — more time to fart around but you can use a different F-word if you want," Barghini said on the air. "Working six months a year doesn't work for every [employer]."

The radio hosts had informed their bosses about a week ago.

Barghini initiated the decision, telling Cobbs that she wanted to quit their radio show.

"You've had two weeks to process it," Barghini blurted on air. "I've had about seven months."

After making the announcement at the top of the second of their three hours on Tuesday, Barghini explained, "When my dad died last summer, it shook me to my core."

She kept thinking about taking a three-week vacation and possibly visiting her mother in Seattle for an entire week, something she had not had time to do for four decades. So Barghini broke the news to Cobbs as they were driving to Chanhassen Dinner Theatres on March 8.

"I was thrilled for you and us," Cobbs said on the radio. "You forced my hand a little bit. I haven't been able to do anything before 6 o'clock."

Cobbs influenced the timing of their final shows. Barghini, 64, wanted to end after the Minnesota State Fair but Cobbs, 60, overruled so she could spend summer at the cabin. The finale will be in June.

Barghini, a music lover who dubbed herself "Concert Connie," promises to stay active on social media.

Cobbs interjected that she'll "finish the books" that she never does before interviewing authors.

In an interview after Tuesday's show, Barghini described herself as giddy. "It's not very often you can choose to leave a media job with a nice long Minnesota goodbye," she said.

"Lori & Julia" filled three hours Monday through Friday with recaps of the previous night's TV programs, show-biz gossip and interviews with authors and celebrities, both locally and nationally known, including Dionne Warwick, Donny Osmond and Billy Dee Williams.

Barghini attributed the success of "Lori & Julia" to "two women talking like women talk to each other. You confide things and then five minutes later you're talking about celebrities. It's not linear like men talking on the radio. We talk more organically. We have an authentic friendship borne out of work [in various jobs together since 1991]. You can't manufacture that."

"Lori & Julia" will continue to broadcast from 3 to 6 p.m. weekdays for three more months. They will still lead a scheduled travel adventure to Iceland in October.

Said Barghini: "Let us be the gossip now."