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There is no good replacement for Ken Bruce, let's just get that out of the way. He's probably the most broadly popular radio DJ in the country: witty, composed, self-deprecating, and with a deep appreciation for music. So it was hard to predict which daring broadcaster Radio 2 would pick to take over Bruce’s mid-morning show, which will end on March 3, following the announcement that Bruce is moving to commercial station Greatest Hits Radio. Whoever replaced him would inevitably be greeted by general grumbling from anyone who just wanted Ken Bruce (and PopMaster, the rights to which are owned by Bruce, not the BBC) to stay in situ.
But these are the snows of yesteryear. From May, Vernon Kay will be the voice of one of the most listened-to shows on British radio. Is he up to it? Although Kay has a lot of experience as a radio broadcaster, having been at Radio 1 from 2004 to 2012, and Radio X from 2015 to 2017, he hasn't always had a face for radio. He got his break after being initially scouted as a model, and then presented TV shows for teens in the early 2000s, followed by All Star Family Fortunes on ITV. In 2020, he was a finalist on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! Married to Strictly Come Dancing presenter Tess Daly, he's more of a TV celebrity than a radio lifer.
So before he takes on one of the biggest jobs in radio, there has had to be an atmospheric acclimatisation process. And lo, over the past year and a half, Kay has gradually been becoming a more familiar voice on Radio 2, via itinerant holiday cover for a range of shows, most recently the Zoe Ball Breakfast Show. This has at times given the impression that Kay has just been loitering around the building waiting for someone to give him a proper job, but I’ve enjoyed the moments I’ve blearily switched on the kitchen radio in the morning to hear Kay’s voice good-naturedly clattering through Ball’s regular features.
He’s good at informal, unpretentious Northern conviviality: his voice shares those gorgeous Bolton vowels with his new Radio 2 colleague, Sara Cox, who presents at teatime. He's likeable, popular and fun. I would have been keen to hear OJ Borg or Liza Tarbuck give this slot a go, but Kay is a good choice. He could even turn out to be the best person for the job.
And ageism, for once, doesn’t feel like a concern here. Kay is 48, whereas Bruce himself was 35 when he first took over the show, younger than Radio 1's current star broadcaster Greg James is now (37).
The most telling aspect of Kay’s new gig is where he fits into the broader landscape of Radio 2’s daytime schedule, which will now comprise Zoe Ball, Vernon Kay, Jeremy Vine, Scott Mills and Sara Cox. Vine might start to feel a little uncomfortable, because apart from him, it’s a uniform line-up of former Radio 1 stars that Gen X and Millennials will remember with nostalgia from their teenage years.
Giving Kay a choice slot in the daily line-up is confirmation that the BBC is determined to transform Radio 2 into a station aimed squarely at listeners in their 30s and 40s. The plan, evidently, is to make Radio 2 sound almost exactly like Radio 1 sounded 20 years ago. That may be what the executives want, but is it what listeners want?
Meanwhile, Greatest Hits Radio is now available without adverts, if you pay for a monthly premium subscription. So, if you can commit to that, or can put up with the commercial breaks, Greatest Hits will soon sound almost exactly like Radio 2 once did, right down Simon Mayo at drivetime and PopMaster on your morning tea break. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
And this, surely, will be the first item on the agenda for Vernon Kay: what feature can he dream up to replace PopMaster, the best quiz on the radio?
Vernon Kay is the right choice to replace Ken Bruce – as long as you're under 45
The affable Boltonian will take over from Bruce in May, as Radio 2 continues its rapid transformation into Radio 1 circa 1999