DJ’S on-air tirade wasn’t fun way to start your day
My old pals at Moray Firth Radio thought it might be a good idea if they could grab a little piece of the action. Tich Mccooey, the breakfast show presenter and a local legend, staged a surprise “Fancy meeting you here” encounter with Evans at a hotel in Nairn but was swept aside.
The next morning, however, a whole section of the Radio 1 Breakfast Show was devoted to the incident. Evans set about belittling Tich Mccooey and pointing out – in case he hadn’t checked his pay packet lately – that even Radio 1’s youngest researchers were earning more than him.
All of this was said with not the slightest hint of humour. For listeners, this was not a fun way to start your day. Over at Moray Firth’s Scorguie studios, I’m told a hush fell over every office as they listened to this tirade. I know that was the case in our Radio Scotland office, and I’m willing to bet it was a similar scene at Broadcasting House in London. The press articles which, until then, had been fairly positive, now took a sour turn. Tich, meanwhile, played a blinder by turning the tables on Radio 1 and presenting his show from London, hobnobbing with pop stars and celebrities at Stringfellows nightclub. The London papers lapped it up and the BBC had seized disaster from the jaws of triumph.