Jo Whiley | |
|---|---|
_(51742373910).jpg) Whiley hosting a performance atBBC'sBroadcasting House in 2021 | |
| Born | Johanne Whiley (1965-07-04)4 July 1965 (age 59) Northampton,Northamptonshire, England |
| Spouse | |
| 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 | bbc |
Johanne Whiley-Morton[1] (born 4 July 1965), better known by her professional nameJo Whiley, is an English radio DJ and television presenter, who was the host of the long-running weekday later weekendJo Whiley Show onBBC Radio 1. She currently presents her weekday eveningRadio 2 show. She is also the main presenter for the BBC'sGlastonbury Festival coverage.
Whiley was born inNorthampton to Martin, an electrician, and Christine, a postmistress. She attendedCampion School[2] atBugbrooke, near Northampton and then studied applied languages atBrighton Polytechnic. She swam competitively forNorthamptonshire.[3]
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 withBBC Radio Sussex on a show calledTurn 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 forCity University London for a one-year course on radio journalism. After writing many letters, she got a job as a researcher on WPFM, aBBC Radio 4 youth culture and music show. When the presentersTerry Christian andGary Crowley left, she took over, gaining her first presenting role. She then moved into television, firstly atBritish Satellite Broadcasting where she produced and presented the indie show, and then atChannel 4 where she worked as a researcher onThe Word, with her friendZoe Ball. Whiley moved on toBBC Radio 1 from September 1993 until March 2011, during the heyday ofBritpop with bands such asBlur andOasis. She hosted a weekday evening show calledThe Evening Session withSteve 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 onTop of the Pops, initially co-presenting with fellow DJSteve Lamacq before flying solo and alternating withZoe Ball andJayne Middlemiss. The three women are referred to by theTop 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 presenterFearne Cotton.
On 24 November 2002, Whiley became the first female presenter of theRadio 1 Chart Show.[4]
In July 2009, Whiley published her autobiography,My World in Motion, on CD throughRandom House Audiobooks.[5]
From February 1997, Whiley had a weekday lunchtime show, calledThe Jo Whiley Show and laterThe Lunchtime Social. This included elements of the evening show, such as tour dates and occasional live 'sessions' atMaida Vale Studios while working within the restrictions of Radio 1's daytime schedule. WhenSimon Mayo leftBBC Radio 1 forBBC Radio 5 Live andBBC 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 sawGreg James move to the afternoon slot (was occupied byEdith Bowman) andFearne 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 onBBC Radio 1 was on 27 March 2011.
Since August 2009, Whiley has been an occasional stand in presenter forClaudia Winkleman onBBC 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 formerBBC Radio 1 presenterSteve Lamacq would present a one-off Evening Session (the first in 13 years) on Good Friday (2 April) forBBC Radio 6 Music. Presented another Evening Session on 28 January 2011.[12] After being an occasional stand-in presenter onBBC Radio 2, Whiley began presentingIn Concert on Thursday evenings in April 2010.
On 1 February 2011, it was announced that Whiley would be leavingBBC Radio 1 after 17 years of broadcasting to joinBBC Radio 2, where she would present an evening show from Mondays to Thursdays[13] starting on 4 April 2011, replacingThe Radcliffe and Maconie Show. Radcliffe and Maconie would, in turn, move toBBC Radio 6 Music while Whiley's Radio 1 show would be taken over byHuw Stephens.[14] Since 2011, she has co-hostedRadio 2 Live in Hyde Park.
In March 2012, the BBC announced that as part of the broadcaster's celebration of the 20th anniversary ofBritpop, Whiley and Lamacq would present a week ofEvening Sessions on Radio 2 from 7 April.[15]
In January 2018, it was announced that Whiley would join daytime on a drivetime show withSimon 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]
Whiley presents televised coverage of major music festivals, such as theGlastonbury Festival. She also narrated theBBC Three seriesLittle Angels. In October 2007, she became a judge on theT4 (Channel 4) showOrange unsignedAct which searches for a band trying to get a record deal. Whiley also hosted a music TV show on music channelTMF. From late 1998, Whiley hosted her own music discussion show on Channel 4, calledThe Jo Whiley Show, which ran for four series until late 2001.
On 15 March 2010, Whiley presented an edition of thePanorama documentary strand titledAre the Net Police Coming for You? in which she looked at theDigital Economy Bill, a proposed new law targeting people whodownload music illegally from the Internet.[18]
In 2014, Whiley was a contestant on the Children in Need special ofSwashbuckle with her daughter Coco.
In July 2021, Whiley was a co-presenter for the BBC's coverage of theHampton 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]
Whiley married music executive Steve Morton in July 1991 in Northampton. The couple live inTowcester, Northamptonshire[21] and have four children.[3]
In October 2014, she was presented with aBASCA Gold Badge award.[22] Whiley is apescetarian.[23]
In February 2021, Whiley's sister Frances, who haslearning difficulties anddiabetes, was admitted to hospital after testing positive forCOVID-19 following an outbreak in her care home. Frances, who is two years younger than Whiley, hasCri du chat genetic syndrome.[24][25] Whiley publicly campaigned for those in her sister's category to receive priority in theCOVID-19 vaccination programme roll-out.[26] She repeated the plea during an interview on BBC'sThe 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]
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 forMencap,[30] a UK charity that works to support people with learning disabilities. She hosts theLittle 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 forSport 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 theSport Relief appeal that same week. While completing the challenge she hosted two radio shows.[33] The achievement impressed members of the bandColdplay, who donated £260,000 to Sport Relief.[34]
| Media offices | ||
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| Preceded by | BBC Radio 2 Drivetime Show Co-Presenter (withSimon Mayo) 2018 | Succeeded by |
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