Kirsty returns to Desert Island Discs!
Scots former host back on radio show... but this time as a castaway
FORMER Desert Island Discs host Kirsty Young is to return to the show as a castaway.
Having presented it on Radio 4 for 12 years – interviewing more than 500 castaways – she will be a guest on the Christmas Day edition, the BBC said today.
East Kilbride-born Ms Young, 53, who was forced to step down from the show in 2018 as a result of ill health, said it had been strange rejoining the programme.
She joked: ‘It was a slightly discombobulating and thoroughly enjoyable experience. Although making everyone narrow down their favourite discs to just eight is frankly unreasonable. It’ll never catch on.’
Ms Young joined Desert Island Discs in 2006 and soon became a firm favourite with the show’s army of devotees.
She was forced to quit, however, after she was diagnosed with both secondary fibromyalgia, which causes pain all over the body, and rheumatoid arthritis.
Lauren Laverne, who replaced Ms Young as the programme’s host, will interview her on Christmas Day. The Scot’s husband Nick
Jones, 59, recently announced he has successfully battled prostate cancer, and is stepping down as CEO of clubs group Soho House, which he founded in 1995.
Her return to the studio brings the curtain down on a triumphant year for the presenter who began her broadcasting career in Scotland. She delighted viewers when she made an unexpected return to live television to anchor the BBC’s coverage of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
There was much praise for the gravitas and the warmth she brought to proceedings.
But her moving live coverage of the Queen’s funeral service at St George’s Chapel in Windsor met with even greater acclaim. Her emotionally charged tribute to the
Queen at the end of the service moved many to tears.
She said the Queen’s funeral had exemplified her reign by uniting the nation in ‘one final act of togetherness’.
Ms Young told viewers: ‘She made history. She was history. Queen Elizabeth II is gone but she will surely never be forgotten.’
The former Crimewatch presenter will reflect on those words during her interview with Desert Island Discs.
She is only the second Desert Island Discs presenter to appear on the show after serving as host. Roy Plomley, the programme’s creator and original presenter, appeared as a guest during its first season in 1942.
Desert Island Discs, which has been celebrating its 80th anniversary this year, will also be welcoming Hollywood royalty to the studio over the festive period.
Film director Steven Spielberg and double Oscar winner Cate Blanchett have also agreed to starring roles as castaways. Ms Blanchett will be in the hot seat on December 11, while Spielberg will appear on December 18.
‘It was enjoyable but discombobulating’