Steve Wright In The Afternoon however, was a show that the vast majority of the country made an appointment to listen to. I even used to tape segments of it and wish I still had those tapes now, Mr Mad, the fish filleter, Sid the manager, Mick and Keith, were all the comedy staples of a two and a half hour experience that brought the nation ever closer to home time. Steve Wright had the respect of the comedy world, even the sweary, late night, 'alternative' comedians knew the market value of a five minute chat with someone who understood the business of laughter. He was never destined to be a serious music DJ, you can leave that sort of thing to the late night guys.
Steve Wright's show on BBC Radio Two, in almost the same time slot as his Radio One show, remains popular with the listeners who feel compelled to tell him that they love the show. Or he may add that bit to the emails. The 'love the show Steve' bit became a 6Music gag last year, when Richard Herring and Andrew Collins started ending all their correspondence with the same message.
So was there any point in this bizarre non-story in the Daily Mirror today?
No. There wasn't.
An expose of the 'weird world' of Steve Wright? Some of the weird things from Steve Wright's bizarre world:
Yet aside from his three-hour Steve Wright In The Afternoon on Radio 2 show, he remains an enigma – even to his closest colleagues.
I once worked in an office for about a year and hated everybody bar three people who I used to go outside to smoke with. Once it was time to go home, I left without saying goodbye to anyone. We've all had jobs like that. I like to keep myself to myself, and can't think of anything worse than talking to people you don't want to, so I don't.
His one obsession is radio and he studiously listens to other shows, seeking to pick up tips and ideas. One friend recalls bumping into him at London’s Paddington station about to board a shuttle train to Heathrow Airport.
“He told me he was off to New York,” he remembers. “I asked where his luggage was and he just waved his passport at me. ‘I buy essentials like toothbrush, underwear and socks while I’m there and throw them away at the end,’ he told me.
“Wrightie was literally going to sit in a hotel room for a few days to listen to local stations. He is obsessed by the medium, which is why he’s stayed at the top for so long.”
First of all, this can't have been a very good friend to go blabbing to the gutter press, so the chances are weighed very heavily towards this whole thing being bollocks. There is nothing wrong with being interested in radio. However, if Steve Wright or anyone else wanted to listen to American radio stations, they can do it from home by listening to it online. So the chances are, he was just going away for the weekend. I also think his travelling arrangements sound very sensible.
He has a team of assistants who get his meals, and sort out his travelling arrangements. The clue here is the word ASSISTANT. This is what assistants do.
They are making out that Steve Wright is leaving a sad and lonely life, but this 'article' has disjointed everything so much that this basically means that he lives on his own. It is reported that the sudden upset of his divorce led to him putting on weight and losing his hair, because men in their late fifties would otherwise be unaffected by this wouldn't they?
It is likely that Steve Wright didn't cooperate with the paper on a story, and now they want to get their revenge.
“The one thing that dominates Wrightie’s life is his radio show,” said a colleague. “It really is the only thing that gets him up in the morning.
“But we all worry about him because it can’t go on forever.”
I'm sure it will last longer than Ryan Parry's career pretending to be a journalist.
