Nick Grimshaw calls time on the early rises and announces he’s stepping down from the breakfast show. He stays with the Radio 1 family and will host a brand new drivetime show. Greg James is unveiled as the new presenter of The Radio 1 Breakfast Show.

BBC Radio 1 has revealed today that Greg James will take over as the new presenter of The Radio 1 Breakfast Show, following Nick Grimshaw’s announcement that he is stepping down after a record-breaking run.

Greg joined Nick live on air this morning to share their exciting news with listeners.

Nick began hosting The Radio 1 Breakfast Show in 2012 and this week, he became the second-longest running breakfast show presenter in the station’s history, beating the record previously held by Tony Blackburn. Now he is passing the breakfast show baton over to Greg, who is the current presenter of the station’s drivetime show and joined the BBC fresh from student radio.

They will start their new shows on Radio 1 in the Autumn.

Nick says: “It was always my dream to do the breakfast show and I’m very grateful that I got to live my dream every day for what will be nearly six years. But six years is a long time and this isn’t a forever job. I had the time of my life. I’ve decided it’s time for a change and a new show. I love Radio 1 and can’t wait to get on with the new time slot and the removal of all alarms from my house. I’m so happy to be swapping shows with my friend and yours Greg James, and can’t wait to wake up to him each morning. Not literally. Just on the radio. Unless he’s up for it.”

Greg says: “I am completely beside myself that I've been given the chance to present the most famous radio show in the world. It really doesn’t get any bigger than this and I really want to build on the great work Grimmy has done. The listeners have become like mates during the ten years I've been on air, so to be there when they wake up is a real honour. They’re always front and centre and this will of course be the case on the new breakfast show. It's going to be the most enjoyable challenge I've ever undertaken and I can't wait to get started.”

Ben Cooper, Controller of Radio 1, 1Xtra and Asian Network, says “Greg gets his childhood dream, Grimmy gets a lie-in and the Radio 1 audience gets two exciting new shows with the biggest and most popular youth presenters in the country. I’m so proud that Radio 1 produces and nurtures the best talent in the industry - I gave Greg his first show when he joined us from student radio and now he’s getting the most famous radio gig in the world - it’s going to be fantastic. Grimmy’s done a brilliant job reinventing the feel and tone of the breakfast show by connecting with new audiences in new ways in the digital age.”

The announcement is part of reinventing Radio 1 and follows the recent news that Fridays are now officially part of the weekend. The brand new weekend schedule will include shows from Dev and Alice Levine, Maya Jama, Matt Edmondson and Mollie King plus Scott Mills and starts next month, ahead of Nick and Greg’s new shows starting in the Autumn.

Radio 1 is the biggest and most relevant youth station in the UK, with over a third of all 15-24 year olds listening each week. The station has over 10 million listeners each week, over 10 million weekly views on YouTube and 10 million followers across social media.

KP2
Greg James

Greg presented his first Radio 1 show the day after he graduated from university. Ten years on, he has successfully hosted many shows across the network including drivetime for the last six years, winning two Sony Gold awards along the way.

As well as being an enormous radio nerd, he has created viral videos for Radio 1’s YouTube channel such as his lip-sync collaboration with Taylor Swift, his recreation of Miley Cyrus’s Wrecking Ball and Sir David Attenborough’s commentary over Adele’s Hello have all racked up millions of views.

Aside from radio, Greg hosts the primetime BBC One music show Sounds Like Friday Night and has written the bestselling children’s book series Kid Normal with his Radio 1 colleague Chris Smith. He is a regular on BBC 5 Live talking about his other passion, cricket, on the popular Tailenders podcast with England’s Jimmy Anderson.

He also successfully completed the Gregathlon for Sport Relief this year where he attempted to climb the highest peaks in Wales, England and Scotland and cycle between them during The Beast from the East. He captured the listener’s imaginations and encouraged them to open up about Mental Health, and they generously donated over £1 million for the charity.
Nick Grimshaw

Nick is currently the second longest-running breakfast show host in the station’s history. He began on the Radio 1’s Breakfast Show in 2012 and has presented the show for five years and 250 days, beating the previous record held by Tony Blackburn.

During his reign on the breakfast show, Nick has interviewed many of the top stars in showbiz as well as having world-famous musicians’ debut their songs on his show including Adele, Harry Styles and Florence + The Machine. He has reinvented Radio 1 in the digital age and his iconic videos such as Artists Remember Their Own Lyrics with Demi Lovato, Pink and Selina Gomez have reached over 20 million views and Grimmy's Heart Rate Monitor Challenge has had nearly 10 million views on Radio 1’s YouTube channel.

As well as his radio show, Nick has presented prime-time TV coverage for the BBC including Harry Styles at the BBC, BBC Music’s The Biggest Weekend, Glastonbury, Radio 1's Big Weekend and Radio 1's Teen Awards.

Nick began his broadcast career on student radio at university in Liverpool. In 2016, he won Radio Personality of the Year at the industry’s TRIC Awards.