Replacing Graham Norton? It could only be Claudia
The BBC had few options when looking for a host for the Radio 2 Saturday slot, says Charlotte Runcie
When Graham Norton announced he was leaving BBC Radio for the more profitable commercial broadcasting waters of Virgin, it was a tense moment for fans of Radio 2 on Saturdays. Who could possibly replace him?
It’s a tricky slot to fill, Saturday morning. People are ferrying kids between activities, cooking the lunch, sorting out the house, going to the tip, and generally in search of some good tunes and upbeat chat along the way. The presenter needs to be friendly and fun, and, ideally, not completely brain-dead. So it’s a relief to hear that the sharp and convivial Claudia Winkleman has been chosen to fill the slot.
Her fellow BBC DJ Sara Cox admitted to her own nerves when hearing that the position was vacant. “As a massive fan of Graham, I was a little wibbly of belly about who was taking over his Sat morning BBC Radio 2 show,” she tweeted. “So absolutely over the moon...that it’s Claudia Winkles – funny, very smart, witty, great interviewer – perfect choice.”
Cox is not wrong. Actually, Winkleman is really the only possible choice. Norton has been immensely popular with listeners, and the BBC needed someone high profile, capable of retaining as much of that audience as possible. Claudia Winkleman ticks the box. And, with her own distinctive style of gently offbeat humour, she is also just as friendly and funny as Norton, which is high praise.
What’s more, none of the alternatives was quite right. Rylan Clark-neal, who currently presents his own Radio 2 show on Saturday afternoons, must have been in the running. He seems to have a part in most BBC entertainment programmes at the moment, from Strictly: It Takes Two to Eurovision. But he is a Marmite broadcaster, and his gushing broadcasting style, and preference for playing club tracks on his radio show, is a turn-off to many loyal Radio 2 fans, particularly older listeners.
Liza Tarbuck could have been a good option, were it not for the fact that she is such a roaring success in her current show on Saturday evenings that she would be sorely missed if she left it. Alan Carr and Melanie Sykes, who cover for Norton during his holidays, might have been up for taking on the gig permanently, but, like Clark-neal, they do have a tendency to divide listeners.
The Saturday morning slot on Radio 2 requires broad appeal, and there are surprisingly few BBC broadcasters who are widely liked enough to fit the bill.
Winkleman is self-deprecating, clever and, gloriously, never robotically on-message. She has the gift of being friendly and enthusiastic without ever seeming false. As an interviewer, she is sensitive and quick-thinking, able to draw out the down-to-earth human side of anyone she’s interviewing. She followed in the footsteps of the great Bruce Forsyth in presenting Strictly Come Dancing, and now it’s hard to imagine that show without her.
I struggle to think of another BBC broadcaster with Winkleman’s broadcasting nous or her mixture of smarts, fun and dash of British eccentricity. And the BBC knows full well how rare a talent Winkleman is, which is why, as co-presenter of Strictly, she is one of the corporation’s highest-paid stars. But by parachuting her into Norton’s programme, it feels a little like the BBC is moving around a diminishing number of chess pieces. Is the corporation developing enough new talent with broad appeal to continue to fill its schedules?
And, with Norton moving towards commercial radio, can the BBC be sure it will be able to hold on to Winkleman, too?
Presenters such as Rylan Clark-neal and Melanie Sykes tend to divide listeners