Radio 1 DJ swaps lives with Welsh couple – and even does dishes!
A WELSH couple had a “surreal” 24 hours after BBC Radio 1 presenter Greg James gifted them his tickets for the Brit Awards in London – and babysat their daughter for them.
Charlie and Meg, from Swansea, who are engaged, had no idea what was in store when producers asked them on to play a game on Greg’s breakfast show on St David’s Day.
It wasn’t an unusual request, as the couple had appeared to play games on the popular show about five or six times before.
Charlie played a game called What’s My Age Again? in July last year, having “always listened to Greg” even before he started his breakfast show.
Charlie was invited back onto the show shortly after, when he revealed the hilarious and downto-earth way he had proposed to Meg – while she was making hotdogs in the kitchen – which Greg found “hysterical”.
The couple, who are both 29, have been a hit with listeners during their appearances ever since, with Greg himself describing the pair as “two of our favourite listeners ever”.
Greg had dubbed them a “real-life Gavin and Stacey” as Charlie is from Essex and Meg is from Pontypridd. But on Friday, they didn’t know Greg was going to give them a belated engagement gift – tickets to the annual music awards on Saturday.
“They called us on to [the show to] do a Mr and Mrs-style game but it was all a ploy,” Meg said.
Greg revealed the surprise live on air, telling the couple: “You might have heard this week that Bella, my wife, didn’t want to go to the Brits this weekend.
“So I’ve been trying to decide all week who I would want to take with me and I keep coming back to both of you in my head because I love you both – I think you’re brilliant. You’ve brought so much joy to this show – the listeners absolutely love you.”
He said he only had one extra ticket, but as he’s been to the Brits “loads of times before” he decided to give them both tickets.
“I thought maybe it would be quite fun if we swapped lives for the evening,” Greg added.
Speaking on their way back to Wales from the Brits, the couple said it had been a “whirlwind” 24 hours and was “still sinking in”.
“They recorded our genuine reactions [on Friday’s show]. We didn’t even know if it was real,” Meg, who works for the NHS, said.
Charlie, who works for an advertisement company, added: “We literally thought it was a joke.”
But within hours they were getting ready to go to the ceremony in London – with Meg joking that “next-day delivery was an absolute lifesaver” as she scrambled to find an outfit. “It was a bit of a panic because it was such short notice,” she laughed.
As Greg was on his way to their home in Swansea for the “life swap”, they didn’t have to worry about finding a babysitter for their seven-year-old daughter, Maisie.
“This is probably one of the biggest events we’ve had in our lives, and yet to Maisie in her little world this was just like someone really fun coming over to play for the day... she loves people,” said Meg.
Staying true to the life swap, Greg, Maisie and the couple’s mums spent most of Saturday together doing what the family normally do at the weekend.
Greg did the dishes, went to the park with Maisie, played with her Barbies with her, let her paint his nails – and they all ended the day with a Chinese takeaway while watching the Brits on TV.
As for their night at the Brits, the couple said it was “surreal”.
“The seats we had were absolutely amazing as well,” said Meg.
Meanwhile, Greg left when Maisie went to bed – but his kind gesture has left an everlasting impression.