Entertainment
Greg James ‘very glad’ he didn’t quit Radio 1 over pandemic and teases plans to stay ‘forever’-Charlotte Manning-Entertainment – Metro
So are we!
On behalf of the nation, thank you, Greg (Picture: Burak Cingi/Redferns)
Greg James has addressed his decision to stay put on the BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show after previously admitting he very nearly walked away back in 2020.
The presenter took over the hosting slot of the BBC morning show in 2018 after Nick Grimshaw’s departure, and has only increased the popularity of the early morning programme.
However, the cheery breakfast presenter came close to waving goodbye to his slot in the earlier days of the pandemic, much to the surprise of fans.
Earlier this year, Greg admitted: ‘I had a conversation with my boss and I was just like “I can’t do it anymore”.
‘I can’t pretend to be happy when I’m sad and everyone else is sad,’ he told The Independent in January.
But luckily, he was talked into staying, and while chatting to Metro.co.uk at Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Coventry, revealed he’s ‘feeling very, very happy’ on the show again.
Greg took over from Nick Grimshaw back in 2018 (Picture; BBC)
Asked whether he’s glad he didn’t throw in the towel, he told us: ‘Yeah, I am very glad that I didn’t quit.’
He went in to more depth on what it was that prompted the uncertainty of his future at the station.
Greg continued: ‘Everyone in the world who has a job felt like they wanted to not do it on certain days, every now and then, anyway. I’ve been very lucky in my life that I’ve had a job that I really, really love. I can only imagine the horror of doing a job you hate, whilst there’s a pandemic on. I really feel for people who are going through that.
‘Everyone had those moments in the pandemic, where they went, “Who am I, what am I doing? What is my life? What does this anything mean?”.
‘It was a great reminder, to work out what your actual life is. Who are you hanging out with? Who have you got around you? That was probably that’s why I thought about all those things.’
He went on to recall ‘losing my marbles’ before adding: ‘I think everyone lost their marbles. I mean, we’re slowly picking them up. We’re slowly scrabbling around on the floor, picking up our marbles again, and it’s really hard!’
But how long does he plan to stay at the helm? ‘Forever, hopefully!’ Greg teased.
The cricket fanatic will be taking his podcast Tailenders on the road next year but explained there’s little time to start new projects due to his show being ‘all-consuming in a great way.’
Greg on Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway earlier this year (Picture: Kieron McCarron/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
‘Even though it does finish technically, at 10.30am, there are a lot of things that you have to do for the next day and a lot of planning. It’s supposed to sound thrown together. But it actually isn’t thrown together at all. It’s just an all-consuming thing.
‘I don’t get that much time to sort of go, “Oh, I want to do a TV series now.”’
Greg said he’s always ‘loved doing TV’ and massively played himself down by joking he’s ‘not terrible at it’.
The Breakfast Show host lets himself be picky when it comes to taking any small screen jobs, adding: ‘There are just very few shows around that I go, “Oh, I’d love to host that.”
He is working on some exciting new things though, with a potential sitcom in the pipeline, and shared how he absolutely loves to write.
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‘I really like writing stuff,’ he told us. ‘I’m writing some shows and writing some potential sort of scripted comedy things and just trying some stuff out. There’s not a lot of time! [I’m writing] more children’s books, but they take a long time to write as well.
‘I’m happy with what I’m doing at the moment.’
The Radio 1 Breakfast Show with Greg James airs weekdays from 7am on BBC Radio 1.
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