It’s funny, you remember weird things from when you were young. I was obsessed with listening to the radio and I remember when Kenny Everett played Bohemian Rhapsody on Capital Radio 194 in the mid-1970s, I must’ve been about seven or eight years old. It was the longest record I’d ever heard on radio – I thought it was three records he was playing in one. I wasn’t a rock fan, but I remember it changing how I felt about hearing music on the radio.
As a child, I didn’t think I’d have the chance to be a radio broadcaster as I had no role models to aspire to. I remember going to bed with the radio on. I felt better, like I had company. I’m a black DJ – obviously. I am one of a very few at a national level. Throughout my career, I’ve just worked hard to get the job done and get as far as I possibly could in this business.
The media has a responsibility to be at the forefront of that change
The world has to change, and at last, it’s changing for the better. The media has a responsibility to be at the forefront of that change. Radio is part of people’s lives, in their homes, cars, laptops and smartphones every day so it’s important that presenters represent life in the UK today.
Let’s not pretend. Women have not been fairly represented. I’m glad that the biggest station in the country is putting that right, but in this case, Zoe [Ball] and Sara [Cox] are getting their new shows not because they’re women but because they are brilliant broadcasters. I’ve known them for two decades and I couldn’t be happier for them. It’s a level playing field now. Everybody’s there on merit and that’s how it should be. Nothing else matters.
I grew up hearing the myth that women don’t like listening to women on radio. It didn’t make much sense to me. I just wanted to hear a good broadcaster who kept me entertained. Gender is irrelevant to me. I’m a football season ticket-holder and I see families there each week. When I watch it on TV, you’d think women didn’t go to football games as the coverage has been male-dominated for so long. But now it’s changing and of course there should be female pundits. Girls and boys each need role models to inspire them to be whatever they want to be.
In my experience, radio is as relevant today as it’s always been. Radio audiences LOVE their favourite shows and presenters – it’s their station. Radio 2 listeners will put it on at the start of the day and turn it off at night (or not if they’re like me as a kid!) and there are a lot of people like that with lots of radio stations around the UK.
