The BBC stars knew Steve Wright was “struggling with his health”, but his death was still a “huge, huge shock”, insiders said.
The veteran BBC radio presenter has died aged 69 as Sara Cox led emotional tributes to the star.
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BBC stars knew Steve Wright was ‘struggling with his health’, insiders said
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Veteran BBC radio broadcaster dies aged 69 Credit: Alamy
It has now emerged that colleagues viewed his death as “very, very sudden” and that he had spoken to bosses in recent days.
“Steve spoke to Radio 2 bosses just two or three days ago,” one BBC star told the Daily Mail.
“We were aware that he was struggling a bit with his health, but nothing seemed that serious.
“It was a big shock. No one can believe it. He’s been in contact with his colleagues recently. It doesn’t seem real at all.”
It is currently unclear what the radio legend’s health battle has been like.
It was also to be part of BBC Radio’s plans to launch four new stations on air.
Jo Whiley said it felt “very strange” to be doing a show dedicated to Steve considering she only saw him “a few days ago”.
“(It’s) a very strange show,” she said.
“It’s extremely difficult to know what to say and to talk about someone you saw a few days ago in this studio that I’m in now – to do a tribute to that person is just not right.”
His friend and long-time BBC radio colleague Ken Bruce said he was “absolutely shocked” by the news as he revealed they were planning to celebrate Steve’s “deserved” MBE with a lunch in the near future.
Radio 2 fans in tears as Steve Wright hosts his final show after 23 years on the air
“An outstanding and innovative broadcaster whose listeners loved him. What a loss to the world of radio,” he added.
Steve lost 20 percent of his hearing in his right ear after being poked with a birthday cake candle at the age of ten.
And he also suffered from hereditary inflammation of the eyelids, which made him seem tired.
At school, Steve faced cruel ridicule because of his appearance.
He once said: “When I was a teenager I was known as Concorde, because of my big tit.”
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Steve joined the BBC in the 1970s, after which he hosted shows on BBC Radio 1 and 2 for over four decades, attracting millions of listeners.
He was also a long-time presenter of Top Of The Pops on BBC One.
A statement shared by Steve’s family with the broadcaster read: “It is with deep sadness and deep regret that we announce the passing of our beloved Steve Wright.
“In addition to his son Tom and daughter Lucy, Steve leaves behind his brother Laurence and father Richard.
“Also, beloved close friends and colleagues, and the millions of devoted radio listeners who have had the good fortune and great pleasure of letting Steve enter their daily lives as one of the UK’s most enduring and popular radio personalities.
“While we all grieve, the family requests privacy at this extremely difficult time.”
The broadcaster joined BBC Radio 1 in 1980 to host the Saturday evening show before switching to host Steve Wright’s In The Afternoon a year later until 1993.
Steve then hosted the Breakfast show on Radio 1 for a year until 1995, ending up on commercial radio before returning to BBC Radio 2 in 1996 to host the Steve Wright Saturday Show and Sunday Love Songs.
In 1999 he reprized Steve Wright on Radio 2 weekday afternoons, with celebrity interviews and fun trivia in his Factoids segment, before resigning in September 2022.
Former BBC Radio 1 presenter Scott Mills has taken over the afternoon slot as part of a reshuffle of the station’s schedule.
Steve went on to present Sunday Love Songs on BBC Radio 2, and since October last year has hosted the long-running Pick Of The Pops, previously hosted by Paul Gambaccini.
Steve hit the airwaves on Sunday, guesting on a pre-recorded Valentine’s Day special edition of his Love Songs programme.
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Steve on the radio in 1980. Credit: Rex
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Steve with Cliff Richard at the top of pop Credit: BBC
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He was loved by all his former colleagues Credit: Alamy
Inside the meteoric rise of Steve Wright
Author: Grant Rollings
He grew up poor – but became the nation’s best-loved radio host.
Steve was born in Greenwich, South East London.
His father, Dick, ran Burton’s menswear store in central London, and the family did not have a proper bathroom in their house in New Cross.
He and his brother washed in a tin tub – but Steve didn’t consider himself poor.
The biggest struggle in his early days was with asthma, which meant he was in and out of hospital until he was 11.
Steve said: “At one point they put me in an oxygen tent.
“Sometimes I would be in Greenwich Hospital for three to four days.
“We lived in New Cross and I think it was because of the great pollution of London.”
But the self-deprecating TV presenter always laughed off all the claims, saying that he had a face for radio.
He left school with three O-levels and went to work in marine insurance before joining the BBC and working as a record library clerk.
This inspired him to try his hand at broadcasting and he joined an independent radio station in Reading in 1976.
In 1994, Steve, who had attracted a large audience with his afternoon show, took over the coveted Radio 1 breakfast show.
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