Mr Showbiz Steve Wright ‘just needed an arm round the shoulder’… but the BBC ‘decided he was too old’, pal says
STEVE Wright just needed an arm around the shoulder but the BBC decided he was ‘too old’, a pal claims.
Celebrity publicist Gary Farrow said his friend of 40 years — who died this week aged 69 — just needed some support, but it never came.
He said Steve was “devastated” to lose his hugely popular Radio 2 slot two years ago.
Steve’s departure from his Afternoon show after 24 years led to Radio 2 shedding a million listeners.
But pal Gary says he “needed an arm round the shoulder” from his bosses – instead of being axed.
It comes as fans and staff were left enraged at a “second to none” tribute from station boss Helen Thomas, who axed Steve and his popular colleagues Paul O’Grady and Ken Bruce.
Gary told The Sun: “From what I know, he didn’t have any real medical problems – he was always taking vitamins and popping pills.
“Sure, he didn’t really eat broccoli and he liked McDonald’s, but he was such a character, the likes of which I don’t think we will see again.
“He would spend hours and hours researching before a show, checking out guests and doing his homework. Radio was his life.
“He was Mr Showbiz. He was the first to discuss and champion new books, films, records and TV shows, and so progressive in that respect.
“So quite how the BBC could decide he was ‘too old’ or not current enough is a joke.
“There was no one more current or on the pulse than Steve. There was no one more relevant.”
Gary blasted BBC bosses who deemed him “too old”, saying there was no one more “current”.
He added: “Steve lived for that show, he absolutely loved it – and the listeners loved him. My view is that he died from a broken heart.”
Gary, who was due to meet Steve for lunch this week, said he was the last “of the old guard” and radio is “all the poorer for it”.
He went on: “Everybody loved him on and off air, although he was actually painfully shy, and never wanted to attend these big dos that bosses wanted to wheel him out at.
“But he just wanted someone at the BBC to put an arm around him every now and then, and say ‘You’re doing a great job, Steve. We all love you.’
“But I don’t think anybody ever did – that’s all he wanted.
“I’ll never understand the decision to let him go. It devastated him.”
Read more:
- Zoe Ball and Vernon Kay lead tributes to Steve Wright
- The DJ passed away aged 69 after plotting a new show
- Steve hosted a final Sunday Love Songs show for Valentine’s Day
- The presenter went from being a bullied schoolboy to a radio legend
- The star’s final heartbreaking video was revealed
- The DJ’s hidden heartbreak after divorce from wife Cyndi Robinson
The national institution lost its legendary Steve in the Afternoon show in 2022, with Scott Mills taking over in a bid to attract a younger audience.
The move was blasted as “diabolical” at the time.
Steve continued to present Sunday Love Songs on Radio 2.
He signed off the day before his death with the poignant final words: “I’m back for more Love Songs next Sunday… ta-da then.”
After the tragic news broke, tributes flooded in for the broadcasting giant, while anger mounted against the corporation.
Radio broadcaster Liz Kershaw said today: “It’s shabby, it’s hypocritical. They just dumped him.
“New management said we’re going to refresh the schedule – and they treat people like tins of beans on a shelf. I doubt that there was any follow-up, or any pastoral care, or any support for him.
I love the tributes from fans/colleague/friends, but I am sickened by the gushing from BBC management who threw Steve because of his age on the scrapheap.
“He didn’t need money as he has been one of the highest-paid people on air.
“But, you know, I wonder if they considered how it affected him. There are some people for whom fame and attention are their oxygen. And he was one of those. It was absolutely his life.”
Steve’s departure in 2022, which also followed the loss of other beloved stars including Bruce and O’Grady, Radio 2 suffered an exodus of listeners. In October, it registered 13.5million a week, one million down on the year before.
Insiders said station staff were “enraged” at comments from Ms Thomas — responsible for the shake-up — following Steve’s death.
She described him as a “consummate professional” and said he was “always second to none”.
The memo added: “Steve was the first presenter I ever produced, more than 20 years ago, and I remember the pure amazement I felt, sitting opposite this legendary broadcaster whose shows I had listened to and marvelled at whilst growing up in Hull.”
It went down badly with many listeners, including one who posted on X: “Helen Thomas’ comments about Steve Wright. How ironic.
From bullied schoolboy to BBC legend
By Jane Matthews
STEVE Wright went from being a bullied schoolboy cruelly dubbed ‘Big Nose’ to a BBC radio legend.
Wright was born in Greenwich, London and attended Eastwood High School in Southend-on-Sea, Essex.
It was there that he was cruelly nicknamed Big Nose and Concorde.
His first job after leaving school was in marine insurance but after three years he realised it wasn’t for him.
It was then that Wright left to become a local newspaper reporter.
This led him to BBC, as a record librarian, which then went on to his own shows – and the rest was history.
But in 2022 he announced he was stepping back from his Afternoon show after more than two decades.
He said at the time: “Before we start the show proper, if I may, I’d just like to say thank you ever so much for all the messages that have come in, over the weekend after I announced on Friday on the afternoon that we are leaving the afternoon show.”
The axing saw him take another step towards his Sunday Love Songs show – which he last appeared on just days ago.
“The BBC doesn’t care about how the public feels about any of the greats that were sacked/demoted.
“Your salaries are guaranteed, whether you do your jobs properly or not. By contrast, the talented seem disposable to you? Ugh.”
Another added: “Shame on Helen Thomas who pushed Steve off his afternoon show for a mediocre replacement. I am convinced it affected Steve adversely.
“I am as annoyed today as I was when he announced that HT wanted to do something different. Horrible mistake Helen and it is not forgotten.”
One listener wrote: “Is this the same Helen Thomas who ripped out his soul when she took away his show after 30 years?
“I love the tributes from fans/colleague/friends, but I am sickened by the gushing from BBC management who threw Steve because of his age on the scrapheap. He lost purpose, so sad.”
Steve himself discussed the scheduling changes in 2022.
I’m still not sure whether he could actually sing or not but he didn’t seem to care.
He said: “At the beginning of this year, my friend and boss Helen Thomas, head of Radio 2, said she wanted to do something different in the afternoons.
“I’ve been doing this programme for 24 years at Radio 2, so how can I possibly complain? The support and creative freedom I’m given is fantastic at Radio 2, and really I can’t hold the slot forever. So let’s give somebody else a go.”
Composer Anthony James today shared a snap of the pair together – taken four weeks ago in New York. It is believed to be one of the last of the DJ, who was wearing a black suit, shirt and tie.
The devastated US-based musician wrote: “I can’t sleep. I’m thinking of my dear friend Steve. We took this picture 4 weeks ago in New York. We were trying to do, as he put it ‘ironic selfies’.
“He had such a love of life and radio. He told me ‘AJ the blond hair has to go!’ I miss him #RIPSteveWright.”
Meanwhile, long-term pal and colleague Vanessa Feltz told how she found it “hilarious” when he sang along to songs he played.
She said on Talk TV: “I’m still not sure whether he could actually sing or not but he didn’t seem to care.
“He would just blithely sing, come crashing in with his own chords and, you know, some people used to write to the BBC to complain.
“They regularly got complaints about it but I used to absolutely love it.”