February will be the month that Greg James, Scott Mills, and Nick Grimshaw will all officially have breakfast shows across BBC Radio – a conjunction of some of the modern greats of the game
In the last few weeks, Scott has begun his reign of the world famous Radio 2 Breakfast Show, the flagship show on the BBC’s largest radio station, attracting more than 13 million listeners. ‘Grimmy’ will begin hosting the 6 Music Breakfast Show later in February. They’ll both join Greg James, who is into his seventh year of being up at nonsense o’clock.
It was only during the summer of 2021 that all three oversaw the majority of Radio 1’s daytime output, and had done since 2007. Grimmy-Scott-Greg. Greg-Scott-Grimmy. Grimmy-Greg-Scott (I think). They’ve all taken to a plethora of shows and time slots on Radio 1 over the years, but for any radio presenter, a Breakfast Show is always the one.
For a generation of listeners, those three are Radio 1. Millions have soundtracked their commute to school or work or college with Grimmy crawling his way through a show post-BRIT Awards, aided by Stormzy’s delivery of 7am pizza.
In 2018, after six years, the star-studded, celeb-driven programme was replaced by Greg James, known to prioritise top tier silliness, and listener-led features.
Both have their place, and both have done exactly what they were designed to do to Radio 1’s audience (increase the number that *tune in, decrease the age of those that do it).
You’ll do well to find anyone who works within radio who wasn’t overjoyed when it was announced last year that Scott would be taking over from the brilliant Zoe Ball. I’ve always felt a lot of sympathy for Scott. The most talented presenter to never host a big breakfast show? Quite probably.
It was never quite Scott’s time. It was Moyles, then it was Grimmy, and then it was Greg. The stars didn’t align at one of the most famous radio stations on the planet, so it’s a good thing the man from Hampshire is relatable, funny, and more than talented enough to move to another one of the giants.
It’s going to be a joy to flick between them while beginning the 2025 days. You only had to catch a few minutes when they were all together on air throughout the 2010’s to realise they’re all genuine pals. And they’re radio people. They’ve all done stints on TV and have around 68 podcasts between them, but live radio is where it started, and I think that’s sweet.
A large portion of the BBC’s radio studios in London are within a few metres of each other at Broadcasting House. I imagine it’ll be a beautiful moment the first time they all gather in the corridor (bleary eyed at 6am wondering why they’ve ruined their lives signing those contracts) to reflect on the lovely way in which their respective careers have brought them back together.
*Can we stop saying people are tuning into the radio? No one has tuned into a Radio for fifteen years. We’re tapping into a show. Swiping in. Asking (smart speakers) in…doesn’t really work, but anyway, stop telling me you’ll tune into my shows – you’re a liar.
