There is an air of resignation in Simon Mayo’s distinctive voice as he discusses the recent departures of fellow disc jockey favourites from BBC Radio 2.
Paul O’Grady and Steve Wright left the station this summer, and Simon, 64, the DJ whose smooth vowels have been ever-present for four decades, says there may be more exits to come.
We are four years on from his own sharp departure from Radio 2’s Drivetime show after a stint of 17 years, and 36 in total at the BBC. And while distanced enough now to refer to that period dismissively as “chaos”, he freely admits his upset at the time.
Forced to share his popular show with good pal Jo Whiley to the uproar of devoted listeners, Simon, who first grooved into national consciousness in the late 80s on Radio 1’s breakfast show and as a Top of the Pops presenter, admitted it was not the end he had “imagined”.
Then, earlier this year, the Film Review show he had continued to host with Mark Kermode on BBC Radio 5 Live also ended, moving to Sony as a podcast.
His security pass was deactivated before he had even left the BBC building, meaning he had to be helped out. His tweet said it all: #notquitethegoldwatch, it concluded.
Now he remarks on the exits of DJs Steve Wright and Paul O’Grady, after 24 and 14 years respectively, saying: “Yeah, I have been in touch with them.
“You are talking about two fantastic presenters. Steve sounds very happy, Paul sounds less so.
“I haven’t been in the building for four years so I don’t have any particular insights, other than that this stuff will continue to happen.
“My guess is there will be more in the next few months. That’s the direction the station is going in and they are prepared to lose the older listener.”
O’Grady, 67, announced he was leaving after being told he would share his Sunday show with comedian Rob Beckett, 36, swapping every 13 weeks.
Wright, 68, admitted the station wanted to “do something different in the afternoons”, adding, amiably: “Let’s give somebody else a go.”
Simon, who initially moved to Scala Radio, now hosts his Drivetime show on Greatest Hits Radio, and says if Radio 2 is happy to lose older listeners, Greatest Hits is happy “because we are waiting to gather them with open arms and say, ‘You know that music you like that you hardly get any more? Well, come to us because you’ll get it all the time”.
He says: “That churn of presenters and staff has always happened and will continue to happen.
“Big organisations often get this kind of thing wrong, my guess is what happened in 2018 was handled badly and hopefully we have all moved on and worked out how to adjust, and just hope it doesn’t happen to anyone else.
"I think you only had to listen to the endings of the various programmes I was doing to know it’s a very personal affair and when things are changed and ended in the style that happened to me, that certainly has an effect on you.
“When you listen to the last Drivetime show you can tell I’m upset and everyone else is upset. I was very proud of what we did. When that ends it’s obviously very difficult, but it was a long time ago.”
There has been plenty to celebrate in the interim. He adores being on Drivetime at Greatest Hits, is drawing a young fanbase with Kermode on their Sony podcast, and was awarded a MBE last year.
He is also an author for children and adults, with a new, seventh, novel to promote – his second thriller, Tick Tock.
Written during the lockdowns, it pivots around a mysterious global illness and reflects the pandemic eerily, although the idea behind it was actually conceived before Covid hit the headlines, he says.
This second, solitary career suits him very well. He liked the quiet time in the pandemic, although also loved having his three grown-up children at home with himself and his wife Hilary Bird, a former Radio 2 producer.
He admits he is an “introvert”, and always has been, despite the high-octane Radio 1 breakfast shows and roadshows and whooping audience around him on Top of the Pops.
He says: “I wasn’t at the party.
“I was the radio presenter, there are no pictures of me at parties, I don’t like going to parties very much. It’s never been my idea of fun. Radio is full of introverts and an introvert’s idea of fun is not going to a party and shouting across a crowded room. No, that’s never been my style.”
These days, his tinnitus – the inspiration for his new novel and probably caused by loud music in his early career – makes social events harder.
But he does look back at that early career with great “fondness”.
The son of teachers, he cut his teeth on hospital radio and BBC Radio Nottingham, his ambition always to climb to the top at Radio 1. The breakfast show, landed in 1988, was a dream.
He says: “It was the biggest show in the country and what you played and didn’t play made a huge difference. It was an extraordinary privilege, it’s not really a proper job.”
Yet he does look back at those 80s’ and 90s’ photos and Top of the Pops re-runs and wince at past fashion choices.
He says: “It’s cringey of course – where did that jumper come from? Look at that suit. Eighties’ suits were so baggy and loose with big shoulder pads – clearly not a sensible option.
“If you’re trying to be slightly fashionable, as you had to be on TOTP, within two years you look like a pillock.”
Those TOTP repeats have led to more messages, not all of them polite. He says: “I get messages saying, ‘Wow, you look a lot older now’. Show me a photo of yourself 40 years ago and if you haven’t changed I’d be amazed.”
But he relishes the loyal fanbase who have aged with him. Smiling, he says: “We have all grown ancient together.”
And, thankfully, Greatest Hits Radio welcomes them all.
- Tick Tock by Simon Mayo is available in hardback and published by Doubleday, priced £14.99.
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