Simon Mayo: Jo Whiley Radio 2 Moves Following the Pressure of Gender Balance

Simon Mayo said the decision to call Jo Whiley as co-host of his BBC Radio 2 program was the result of "real pressure from the leaders to improve the number of women in the day."

The DJ hosted the slot from 5 pm to 7 pm on the station for eight years, but was joined by Whiley for an extended edition from 5 pm to 8 pm, which upset the program in 2018.

The listeners criticized the movement and Radio 2 was forced to react, but Mayo announced his departure for "other radio adventures".

Mayo told Radio Times that he had learned that his agent would join the show.

He said: "It was not a meeting, it was a phone call from my agent telling him that she had been visited by Lewis Carnie (Radio Controller 2) who had told him : "Presenting the future, it's doing the co-presentation. "

He added, "I was worried that they would just take out a bag of co-presenter somewhere and I said it had to be Jo, I have known her for a long time and our families were on vacation together."

When asked if he thought Radio 2 really thought that co-organizing was the future, Mayo replied, "No. I guess the summit has exerted real pressure to improve the number of women by day.

"And they watched the radio I'm doing and the fact that I'm working with Mark (Kermode, in their BBC Radio 5 live show) for many years, and thought," He could at least try it . "

"Because if you suggested … some of my former colleagues, they know it would not work."

Mayo said he never had the impression that if it had not worked, it would have been reversed, adding, "They had invested too much political capital in the change.

Since then, he has presented a presenter role to the new clbadical music radio station Scala Radio, which will be on air from March 4, but said that Chris Evans had offered him a position at Virgin Radio after his release from Radio 2.

Mayo told the magazine, "He called me and said, 'Do you want to work here? "I said:" I have already spoken to him. "He said:" I have an audience of 8.7 million people. "I said: "Where I go, we have no listener. We start from scratch! "

In badessing the final result of the Radio 2 reshuffle, which resulted in Zoe Ball hosting the breakfast show and Sara Cox, driving Drivetime, Mayo said, "That's not how I got it. would have conceived.

"The show that Drivetime has become the most perfect reflection of my personality and gives Radio 2 the highest audience figures ever recorded." I do not think we've thought enough about it. impact that change would have. "