Steve Wright
(Picture: BBC)Veteran DJ Steve Wright is leaving his afternoon show on BBC Radio 2 after 23 years and being replaced by Scott Mills who is leaving Radio 1 after 24 years.
The 67-year-old broadcaster announced the news live on air on Steve Wright in the Afternoon on Friday.
He said: “Let me just break off for a moment to make an announcement. I’ll try not to become emotional or self indulgent, this is going to be a little bit difficult.
“At the end of September, I’ll be taking a break from daytime radio. In other words, stepping down from this programme.”
He added: “The great news is onwards and upwards. I’m staying at the BBC and radio to to do some very exciting brand new digital projects and developing new podcasts, some of which actually will feature elements of this programme Steve Wright In The Afternoon. Anyway, all will become clear in the next few months, because we’re staying on this programme until the autumn.”
Wright will continue to present the weekday show until September 2022. He has presented Steve Wright In The Afternoon on the Radio 2 slot since 1999 and also presents Steve Wright’s Sunday Love Songs on the network.
Steve Wright — one of the greatest radio voices of all time. Innovator, entertainer, complete and utter professional. Such a pleasure to work alongside him, such a great person to have a laugh with, bought me a pair of "radio slippers" when he caught me ogling his. ❤️ this guy. pic.twitter.com/3jnlEKAZGA
— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) July 1, 2022
Tributes poured in for Wright, who started at Radio 1 in 1980, with fellow broadcaster Jeremy Vine, calling him “one of the greatest radio voices of all time”.
Mills, who will step into the afternoon slot currently held by Wright, has been a radio presenter since the age of 16 – at which time he presented a show on his local Southampton radio station Power FM.
After joining the BBC in 1998, Mills presented the BBC Radio 1 breakfast show until 2004 after which he moved to a weekend afternoon slot for six months.
He currently presents the Scott Mills show on Radio 1 between 1pm and 4pm, along with co-presenter Chris Stark who will also be stepping down from his current role.
Speaking about the move, Mills said: “Time actually does fly when you’re having fun, and that’s certainly been the case over the past 24 years at my beloved Radio 1. The station I pretended to be on in my bedroom from the age of six. The station I told my mum I wanted to work at, but never in a million years thought I would.”
