English television and radio personality
Jo Whiley
|
---|
|
Born
| Johanne Whiley
(
1965-07-04
)
4 July 1965
(age 58)
|
---|
Spouse
|
Steve Morton
(
m.
1991)
|
---|
Children
| 4
|
---|
Parent(s)
| Martin Whiley (father), Christine Whiley (mother)
|
---|
Career
|
Station
| BBC Radio 2
|
---|
Time slot
| 19:00?21:00 Monday to Thursday
|
---|
Style
| DJ
|
---|
Country
| United Kingdom
|
---|
|
Website
| www
.bbc
.co
.uk
/programmes
/b006wkqz
|
---|
Johanne Whiley-Morton
[1]
(born 4 July 1965), better known by her professional name
Jo Whiley
, is an English radio DJ and television presenter. She was the host of the long-running weekday later weekend
Jo Whiley Show
on
BBC Radio 1
. She currently presents her weekday evening
Radio 2
show. She is also the main presenter for the BBC's
Glastonbury Festival
coverage.
Early life and education
[
edit
]
Whiley was born in
Northampton
to Martin, an electrician, and Christine, a postmistress. She attended
Campion School
[2]
at
Bugbrooke
, near Northampton and then studied applied languages at
Brighton Polytechnic
. She swam competitively for
Northamptonshire
.
[3]
Career
[
edit
]
Early career
[
edit
]
In Whiley's final year of her degree, still unsure of what she wanted to do, a conversation with a lecturer led to a job with
BBC Radio Sussex
on a show called
Turn It Up
. It allowed anyone to get on the radio and required Whiley to attend shows and interview the musicians.
[3]
After a year, Whiley left for
City University London
for a one-year course on radio journalism. After writing many letters, she got a job as a researcher on WPFM, a
BBC Radio 4
youth culture and music show. When the presenters
Terry Christian
and
Gary Crowley
left, she took over, gaining her first presenting role. She then moved into television, firstly at
British Satellite Broadcasting
where she produced and presented the indie show, and then at
Channel 4
where she worked as a researcher on
The Word
, with her friend
Zoe Ball
. Whiley moved on to
BBC Radio 1
from September 1993 until March 2011, during the heyday of
Britpop
with bands such as
Blur
and
Oasis
. She hosted a weekday evening show called
The Evening Session
with
Steve Lamacq
, which was oriented towards less-mainstream, non-dance music. Whiley presented her own show on Saturday afternoon in late 1995.
[3]
From 1995 to 1998, Whiley was a regular guest presenter on
Top of the Pops
, initially co-presenting with fellow DJ
Steve Lamacq
before flying solo and alternating with
Zoe Ball
and
Jayne Middlemiss
. The three women are referred to by the
Top of the Pops
website as the '90s girls', as between them they presented nearly every show of 1997. However, the only occasion when all three presented together was on Christmas Day 1997. Whiley returned to the show twice between 2005 and 2006 to co-present with lead presenter
Fearne Cotton
.
On 24 November 2002, Whiley became the first female presenter of the
Radio 1 Chart Show
.
[4]
In July 2009, Whiley published her autobiography,
My World in Motion
, on CD through
Random House
Audiobooks.
[5]
The Jo Whiley Show
on BBC Radio 1
[
edit
]
From February 1997, Whiley had a weekday lunchtime show, called
The Jo Whiley Show
and later
The Lunchtime Social
. This included elements of the evening show, such as tour dates and occasional live 'sessions' at
Maida Vale Studios
while working within the restrictions of Radio 1's daytime schedule. When
Simon Mayo
left
BBC Radio 1
for
BBC Radio 5 Live
and
BBC Radio 2
in February 2001, Whiley's show was moved to a mid-morning slot.
In July 2008,
The Jo Whiley Show
was fined £75,000 for misleading listeners for an incident involving a member of BBC staff posing as a member of the public taking part in a competition. The BBC claim Whiley herself was unaware of the deception at the time of its broadcast.
[6]
Jo Whiley's weekday show ended broadcasting in September 2009 as part of a major shake-up of Radio 1's weekday schedule. The shake-up saw
Greg James
move to the afternoon slot (was occupied by
Edith Bowman
) and
Fearne Cotton
move to Whiley's slot.
[7]
Her final weekday programme took place on 18 September 2009.
[8]
Following weekdays, the Jo Whiley Show was moved to weekends between 1pm to 4pm.
[9]
As with her former weekday show, it still featured Live Lounge performances from visiting artists, as well as three new features: Jo's Road Trip,
[10]
Top of the Shops,
[11]
and SpellStar. Her last show on
BBC Radio 1
was on 27 March 2011.
BBC Radio 2
[
edit
]
Since August 2009, Whiley has been an occasional stand in presenter for
Claudia Winkleman
on
BBC Radio 2
. She was first heard on the network on Friday 21 August and made subsequent appearances on 2 October, 6 November, 27 November and 18 December 2009.
In March 2010, it was announced that Whiley and former
BBC Radio 1
presenter
Steve Lamacq
would present a one-off Evening Session (the first in 13 years) on Good Friday (2 April) for
BBC Radio 6 Music
. Presented another Evening Session on 28 January 2011.
[12]
After being an occasional stand-in presenter on
BBC Radio 2
, Whiley began presenting
In Concert
on Thursday evenings in April 2010.
On 1 February 2011, it was announced that Whiley would be leaving
BBC Radio 1
after 17 years of broadcasting to join
BBC Radio 2
, where she would present an evening show from Mondays to Thursdays
[13]
starting on 4 April 2011, replacing
The Radcliffe and Maconie Show
. Radcliffe and Maconie would, in turn, move to
BBC Radio 6 Music
while Whiley's Radio 1 show would be taken over by
Huw Stephens
.
[14]
Since 2011, she has co-hosted
Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park
.
In March 2012, the BBC announced that as part of the broadcaster's celebration of the 20th anniversary of
Britpop
, Whiley and Lamacq would present a week of
Evening Sessions
on Radio 2 from 7 April.
[15]
In January 2018 it was announced that Whiley would join daytime on a drivetime show with
Simon Mayo
. This is the first time a woman had co-presented a Radio 2 daytime show in 20 years.
[16]
On 22 October that year, the station announced that Mayo would be leaving Radio 2 after a backlash against the change, with Whiley moving back to an evening slot.
[17]
Television career
[
edit
]
Whiley presents televised coverage of major music festivals, such as the
Glastonbury Festival
. She also narrated the
BBC Three
series
Little Angels
. In October 2007 she became a judge on the
T4 (Channel 4)
show
Orange unsignedAct
which searches for a band trying to get a record deal. Whiley also hosted a music TV show on music channel
TMF
. From late 1998, Whiley hosted her own music discussion show on Channel 4, called
The Jo Whiley Show
, which ran for four series until late 2001.
On 15 March 2010, Whiley presented an edition of the
Panorama
documentary strand titled
Are the Net Police Coming for You?
in which she looked at the
Digital Economy Bill
, a proposed new law targeting people who
download music illegally
from the Internet.
[18]
In 2014, Whiley was a contestant on the Children in Need special of
Swashbuckle
with her daughter Coco.
In July 2021 Whiley was a co-presenter for the BBC's coverage of the
Hampton Court Garden Festival
.
[19]
In 2022,
The Killers
' singer,
Brandon Flowers
, dedicated a performance of their song Pressure Machine to her saying "She's always sorta championed us ... she's said some wonderful things about this song and she's requested it tonight"
[20]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Whiley married music executive Steve Morton in July 1991 in Northampton. The couple live in
Towcester
, Northamptonshire
[21]
and have four children.
[3]
In October 2014 she was presented with a
BASCA
Gold Badge award.
[22]
Whiley is a
pescetarian
.
[23]
In February 2021 Whiley's sister Frances, who has
learning difficulties
and
diabetes
, was admitted to hospital after testing positive for
coronavirus
following an outbreak in her care home. Frances, who is two years younger than Whiley, has
Cri du chat genetic syndrome
.
[24]
[25]
Whiley has publicly campaigned for those in her sister's category to receive priority in the
COVID-19 vaccination programme
roll-out.
[26]
She repeated the plea during an interview on BBC's
The Andrew Marr Show
,
on 21 February 2021.
[27]
On 24 February the government announced that everyone with a registered learning disability would be prioritised for a COVID-19 vaccine.
[28]
Charity work
[
edit
]
Whiley has been a patron of the charity
Sibs
,
[29]
since 2021, a charity that supports the brothers and sisters of disabled children and adults. She is also a celebrity ambassador for
Mencap
,
[30]
a UK charity that works to support people with learning disabilities. She hosts the
Little Noise Sessions
concert in aid of Mencap. She is also a supporter of Tommy's ? The Baby Charity. Whiley is the patron of the cri du chat syndrome support group.
On 19 March 2014, Whiley undertook a challenge for
Sport Relief
, in which she walked, jogged and ran on a treadmill for 26 hours, with a five-minute rest break each hour.
[31]
[32]
She did this to raise money for the
Sport Relief
appeal that same week. While completing the challenge she hosted two radio shows.
[33]
The achievement impressed members of the band
Coldplay
, who donated £260,000 to Sport Relief.
[34]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Jo Whiley"
.
Companies House
. Retrieved
29 August
2022
.
- ^
Northampton Chronicle & Echo
4 November 2011, p. 13, "Sweet toothed Jo's Children in Need 'land of cake believe' stunt"
- ^
a
b
c
d
Hughes, Scott (12 May 1997).
"CV: Jo Whiley, DJ, Radio 1"
.
The Independent
.
Archived
from the original on 9 June 2022.
- ^
https://www.mixcloud.com/lottielonglegs/radio-1-uk-top-40-chart-with-jo-whiley-19112002/
- ^
"Random House"
. Random House. 25 June 2009. Archived from
the original
on 8 September 2012
. Retrieved
4 November
2011
.
- ^
"BBC fine: The affected shows"
. BBC News. 30 July 2008
. Retrieved
3 August
2008
.
- ^
Plunkett, John (16 July 2009).
"Jo Whiley and Edith Bowman lose weekday BBC Radio 1 slots"
.
The Guardian
. London
. Retrieved
16 July
2009
.
- ^
"Whiley bows out with full house"
. Pres Association. 18 September 2009
. Retrieved
25 September
2009
.
[
dead link
]
- ^
"Jo Whiley profile at Radio 1 Programmes"
. BBC
. Retrieved
4 November
2011
.
- ^
"Radio 1 ? Jo Whiley ? Road trip"
. BBC. 24 February 2007
. Retrieved
4 November
2011
.
- ^
"Radio 1: Top of the shops"
. BBC. 24 February 2007
. Retrieved
4 November
2011
.
- ^
Harmsworth, Andrei (15 March 2010).
"Whiley and Lamacq go head to head on Good Friday"
. Metro
. Retrieved
15 March
2010
.
- ^
"BBC Radio 2 - Jo Whiley, Jo is joined by Jack White"
. Archived from
the original
on 3 October 2018.
- ^
"Jo Whiley to switch to Radio 2"
.
BBC News
. BBC. 1 February 2011
. Retrieved
16 February
2011
.
- ^
"Lamacq & Whiley reunited on BBC Radio 2"
. Radio Today. 17 March 2014
. Retrieved
17 March
2014
.
- ^
Singh, Anita (9 June 2018).
"Radio 2 puts Jo Whiley in the driving seat ? but axes its golden oldies"
.
The Telegraph
.
- ^
"Simon Mayo and Jo Whiley Radio 2 Drivetime show to end"
. BBC News. 22 October 2018
. Retrieved
22 October
2018
.
- ^
O'Neill, Phelim; Catterall, Ali; Skegg, Martin (15 March 2010).
"Watch this"
.
The Guardian
. London
. Retrieved
15 March
2010
.
- ^
"BBC One - Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival, 2021, Episode 2"
.
- ^
"THE KILLERS - Pressure Machine - London, Emirates Stadium, 03.06.2022"
.
YouTube
.
- ^
Freestone, Carly (7 May 2021).
"Why we #LoveTowcester!"
.
Mustard Homes
. Retrieved
10 April
2023
.
- ^
"Sir Bob Geldof to be honoured by Gold Badge Awards ? M Magazine"
. 10 September 2014.
- ^
Salmon, Lisa (2024).
"Rock chick Jo Whiley on how she's keeping her aches and pains at bay as she gets older"
.
The Independent
.
Archived
from the original on 7 April 2024.
- ^
"Jo Whiley: 'I'd give up my Covid vaccine in a heartbeat'
"
.
Bbc.co.uk
. 16 February 2021.
- ^
"COVID-19: Jo Whiley offered jab before vulnerable sister who has now tested positive for coronavirus"
.
Sky News
.
- ^
"Jo Whiley's plea for help as vulnerable sister is in hospital with Covid"
.
ITV News
. 19 February 2021
. Retrieved
21 February
2021
.
- ^
"Whiley: 'It's been the worst week of our lives'
"
.
Bbc.co.uk
. 21 February 2021
. Retrieved
21 February
2021
.
- ^
"Covid: Jo Whiley 'so happy' over learning disability vaccine change"
.
Bbc.co.uk
. 24 February 2021
. Retrieved
25 February
2021
.
- ^
"Charity patron"
. Sibs
. Retrieved
26 May
2024
.
- ^
"Celebrity ambassadors"
. Mencap. Archived from
the original
on 27 November 2009
. Retrieved
22 October
2009
.
- ^
"Sport Relief: sports therapist from Cambridge helps Radio 2 DJ Jo Whiley through her running challenge"
. Cambridge News. 21 March 2014. Archived from
the original
on 22 March 2014
. Retrieved
21 March
2014
.
- ^
"Sport Relief: DJ Jo Whiley's 26-hour treadmill triumph"
.
BBC News
. BBC. 21 March 2014
. Retrieved
21 March
2014
.
- ^
"Go Jo go! Northamptonshire DJ Whiley to start epic Sport Relief challenge tonight"
.
Northampton Chronicle and Echo
. 19 March 2014
. Retrieved
20 March
2014
.
- ^
"Sport Relief: Stars help to raise more than £51m"
.
BBC News
. BBC. 22 March 2014
. Retrieved
22 March
2014
.
External links
[
edit
]