Nick Grimshaw tells Chris Evans he’s 'really excited' about returning to radio to cover for him

Virgin Radio

26 May 2023, 11:08

Nick Grimshaw joined the Chris Evans Breakfast Show with cinch to talk about filling in for him next week!

Grimmy will be making his return to radio, hosting The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with cinch from 6.30am to 10am from Monday (29th May) to Friday (2nd June). “I'm really excited,” he enthused.

It will be his first time presenting a radio show since he left the BBC in 2021. Speaking about taking control of the desk, he told Chris: “The nerves have started creeping in, because I can't remember how to do all that.”

He added: “It’s not that hard though, is it?”

Nick presented on BBC Radio 1 for 14 years from 2007 to August 2021, including the Breakfast Show from 2012 to 2018, and Drive Time from 2018 to 2021. Talking about his beginnings in radio, he explained: “I wasn't massively academic at all. I wasn't great at sport at all. My dad tried to make me be a golfer. Didn't happen. And I was like, ‘What can I do?’ And my dad was like, ‘You should be a lawyer’ because dads want you to do a job, like be a doctor, or a lawyer. And then I thought ‘Maybe I'll do the radio.’"

He continued: “I sort of set my heart on radio when I was a teenager, and I was like, ‘That's what I'm going to do.’”

And regarding the influence behind him wanting to be a breakfast radio DJ, he told Chris: “I wanted to do the Breakfast Show, not joking, because of you.” 

At the start of his career, having moved from Oldham to London, Nick, “applied for every internship in the world,” eventually landing one at MTV. He said: “I was terrible at it. They said I was like an office Bez. Like, not really helping the production, but a nice addition.” 

He went on to present on TV for E4 Music and Freshly Squeezed, before moving to radio. He told Chris: “I ended up doing the telly first, did the telly for a little bit, and then after I'd done the telly for about a year, Channel 4 said, ‘You probably need to get an agent because you can't just be emailing Channel 4 yourself.’ And then when I got an agent, she said, ‘What you want to do?’, and I said ‘Radio.’”

Chris previously said in a statement: “I love Grimmy both OTR and IRL. That’s ON THE RADIO and IN REAL LIFE. I think he’s just all round fab. It’s been an honour and a pleasure to call him a friend for almost a decade and it’s a joy to now be able to say he’s also a colleague. I am thrilled he’s depping for me on the Virgin Radio Breakfast Show. Simply thrilled.”

When Chris told listeners that Nick is back on breakfast radio from half past six on Monday, the latter joked: “Half-six? Seven’s good!”

Nick Grimshaw is on The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with cinch from 6:30am all next week. Listen on DAB, on the Virgin Radio UK app, on your smart speaker and at virginradio.co.uk.

For more great interviews listen to  The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with cinch weekdays from 6:30am on Virgin Radio, or catch up on-demand here.