In this sixteenth episode of the season of the Her Spirit podcast BBC Breakfast presenter Louise Minchin and BBC Triathlon presenter Annie Emmerson talk to Jo Whiley, Radio DJ and TV presenter.
Arguably one of the most recognisable voices in British Broadcasting, Jo Whiley has had an exciting and varied career and is considered one of the nation’s favourite radio DJs. Jo was born in Northampton. After studying in Brighton and dabbling on BBC Radio Sussex’s new music show, her first broadcasting job was as a presenter for WPFM, Radio 4’s youth culture and music show. She then moved over into TV, initially on satellite, then to Channel 4 as band booker for ‘The Word’, giving Britain its first television taste of bands such as Nirvana and Rage Against The Machine.
Jo joined Radio 1 in the Spring of 1993 and in September she became permanent co-presenter of The Evening Session with Steve Lamacq. Four years later she landed her own daytime show, and remained part of Radio 1’s weekday line-up until 2009, when she began a new weekend programme. Jo currently presents her evening show Monday - Thursday on Radio 2.
Jo has also presented coverage of the Glastonbury Festival on Radio 1, Channel 4 and BBC-TV, plus she’s hosted several music programmes for Channel 4. Jo is a celebrity ambassador to Mencap, a UK charity that works to support people with learning difficulties. She hosts the Little Noise Sessions concerts, in aid of the Mencap charity enlisting the support of many well-known international music artists. Jo is also a supporter of Tommy’s - The Baby Charity and the Patron of the Cri du Chat Syndrome Support Group.
Jo talks about how she got into triathlon after a call from Louise in 2019 and has gone on to complete her extremely demanding triathlon challenge for Sport Relief in 2020, in which she did three triathlons in three days in three different cities and raising money for Sport Relief.
She talks about her love of swimming, menopause and life in lockdown with her husband Steve and 4 children.
These podcasts have been made possible through the support of Medichecks www.medichecks.com and Sport England www.sportengland.org.
For more information on Her Spirit go to www.herspirit.co.uk and sign up and download the Her Spirit app. It's FREE till the end of June 2020.