Eamonn and Jimmy hang up headphones after 32 years
MUCH-LOVED DUO’S FINAL BBC RADIO MANCHESTER SHOW THIS SUNDAY
RADIO favourites Eamonn O’Neal and Jimmy Wagg will this weekend hang up their headphones after more than three decades gracing Greater Manchester’s airwaves.
The pair, who have been presenting BBC Radio Manchester’s Sunday morning programme for 32 years, have decided to call it a day – bringing to an end the longest-running local radio programme in the country.
Jimmy said: “I was working full time when the opportunity came along to team up with Eamonn on Radio Manchester.
He said: ‘don’t give up the day job as this is only likely to last until Christmas.’ That was in November 1988. And all these years later, here we are.”
Jimmy also carved out a successful career as a sports presenter, recently being given a lifetime-achievement award for covering football for 30 years without missing a single programme.
Eamonn, who is also the High Sheriff of Greater Manchester and executive director at St Ann’s Hospice, said: “Jimmy and I were at school together and we are also brothers-in-law so we obviously know each other very well. We’ve got lots of shared experiences and have lived very similar lives to that of our audience, so we’ve never come across as ‘presenters’ but as two lads that people can relate to.”
The programme has consistently been the highest-rated programme on BBC Radio Manchester and has attracted a variety of guest presenters, including Alan Carr, Dave Spikey, Brendan Coogan, Phil Mealy, Peter Kay, Smug Roberts, Justin Moorhouse and Billy Bradshaw.
Eamonn and Jimmy have also raised more than £500,000 for local charities by producing and presenting live shows around Greater Manchester, ranging from the cabaret style at The Willows in Salford to variety theatre at venues such as Oldham Coliseum and The Stockport Plaza. The duo’s final broadcast will be this Sunday.
Eamonn said: “We’ve been blessed with really loyal listeners, some of whom have been with us since the beginning and seem to know more about us that we do ourselves. We’d like to sincerely thank our listeners because, after all, without them we wouldn’t have been successful enough to last this long. No doubt on Sunday, we’ll be reminiscing with clips from the early days and talking to some of the people who’ve helped and supported us along the way.”