BBC bosses ‘tried to offer Steve Wright his Radio 2 slot back’ weeks before tragic death
Following the death of Steve Wright, a close friend of the iconic BBC broadcaster has claimed the DJ was offered the chance to return to his weekday afternoon show.
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The BBC reportedly tried to offer Steve Wright his slot back at Radio 2 shortly before he died, a close friend has claimed.
The popular radio and television presenter was found dead at his home in London on February 12, a death described as "unexpected" but not suspicious by a Metropolitan Police spokesperson this week.
Mark Wells has since claimed that station bosses begged Wright to return to his popular afternoon slot full-time, however, the BBC has denied this is the case, The Sun reports.
Speaking on the Behind The Scenes with Colin Edmonds podcast, the TV executive recalled a recent conversation with his long term friend Wright. He said: "This is absolutely the truth, and the BBC will deny this.
"But this is what Steve said to me last Friday (9/2 in this instance. He said, 'You’ll never guess what happened this week'.
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"He said 'I got a call from Radio 2, and they very quietly asked me how I would feel about going back to do afternoons'.
"I said 'Oh my God, what do you think of that?'
"Well, he thought he was funny as well. And he said, 'I don’t know whether you should ever go back in life though, do you?'
"And then we talked about something else and moved on."
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In September 2022 bosses handed the afternoon slot to Scott Mills, leaving Steve with just his Sunday Love Songs programme.
However, a spokesman for the BBC has denied Mr Wells’ claims. They said: "This isn’t right. We spoke to Steve alongside other presenters about our plans for the new Radio 2 DAB+ extension, which we announced last week, including simulcasting his Sunday Love Songs on the station and agreed to discuss further content ideas in due course."
He added: "There was no mention of afternoons or Radio 2."
This weekend, the Beeb have been airing a series of specials in his honour.
A special commission celebrating Steve Wright’s BBC career will be aired later this year.
Mark also spoke about Wright’s health on the podcast. He said: "Steve had a heart operation about 15months ago. He had a bypass operation that had gone well…and I think he was more ill than he was letting on.
"The recovery had gone pretty well but the events of the last couple of days was probably what in the end came for him."
