The DJ has reflected on leaving Radio 1 after over a decade at the station and various shows (Picture: Lia Toby/Getty Images for Gay Times)
Nick Grimshaw has said that leaving BBC Radio 1 felt ‘like dying’ due to people’s response to his departure.
The broadcaster left the radio station in August 2021 following 14 years of hosting a variety of shows across the network.
Now Nick has reflected on how the job at Radio 1 was his ‘childhood dream’ as he ‘really fell in love with it, and felt the community of it’.
‘Everyone else on other radios I thought talked properly or had ‘this’ sort of accent. Radio 1 had Sara Cox with her accent and Chris Evans and they just felt naughty, and I really loved them,’ he recalled.
The 38-year-old joined the BBC in 2007, hosting BBC Two youth music show Sound alongside DJ Annie Mac before going on to host Radio 1’s Weekend Breakfast Show in 2008 until the following year, and then moving to host a late-night slot on the station.
The radio DJ, who was raised in Royton, Oldham, took over Chris Moyles’ breakfast show at the age of 27 in 2012, and in May 2018 became the second longest-running host of the Radio 1 breakfast show, overtaking Tony Blackburn.
Nick joked that the nice things people said as he left Radio 1 was like getting an obituary he could read (Picture: James Shaw/Shutterstock)
He then moved on to present the drivetime programme and finally left the show aged 37.
‘I was there for 14 years. A lot of life happens in that time and a lot of changes,’ he said on the Where There’s A Will, There’s A Wake podcast with Kathy Burke.
‘Your friends start getting married and having kids and you’re so different from 23 to 37. So, when I left, it did feel huge. It felt seismic that I left in terms of having accomplished my dream, which was weird anyway, and then it was done, so that was even weirder.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
‘It was like dying a bit, because everyone sort of gave you an obituary and everyone posted like you were dead.
‘Everyone sent you flowers, and then your family would say things to you and your friends would say things to you that they’d never said before, so it actually was like dying.’
He then jokingly added: ‘But you weren’t dead so you could enjoy the obituaries and the flowers.’
The former radio DJ also admitted that he always doubted himself and wondered if anyone even listened or laughed at his show.
He revealed it was on his last day that he finally thought ‘maybe people do like me on the radio’.
More: Trending
Since his departure, Grimshaw has fronted The Great Home Transformation with Emma Willis, a six-part series which sees them renovate homes across the country in just three days
He also co-hosts the podcast Dish alongside Michelin-starred chef Angela Hartnett where they talk food, drink and entertaining with different celebrity guests.
Where There’s A Will, There’s A Wake is available wherever you get your podcasts.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
MORE : Adam Kay finds it ‘slightly depressing’ he’ll never top the success of This Is Going To Hurt
He left the station in the summer of 2021, after 14 years.
