Steve Wright 'offered his Radio 2 afternoon show back' days before his death

18 February 2024 , 11:56

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Steve Wright told friends he was bemused to be offered his Radio 2 weekday slot back by bosses before his death (Image: BBC)

Steve Wright was offered his afternoon slot back on Radio 2 shortly before his death, his friend has claimed.

The DJ also recently had a heart op, according to Mark Wells, the former controller of ITV Entertainment.

In September 2022 bosses handed the afternoon slot to Scott Mills, leaving Steve with just his Sunday Love Songs programme.

But Mr Wells says in the Behind The Scenes with Colin Edmonds podcast that Wright was asked about a return to the slot just days before he passed away.

He said: "This is absolutely the truth and the BBC will deny this but this is what Steve said to me last Friday. He said: ‘Guess what happened this week. I got a call from Radio 2 and they very quietly asked me how I would feel about going back to do the afternoons’.

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Scott Mills took over Steve's BBC Radio 2 show (@realscottmills/Instagram)

A friend of Steve's said he had a operation months before his death (Dave Benett/Getty Images)

“My reaction was like yours followed by laughter, I said ‘Oh my god what do you think of that?’ And he said well he thought it was funny as well. And he said ‘I dont know if you should ever go back in life though do you?’

“Given what’s happened since I feel that gives the story of Steve Wright’s broadcasting career a wonderful symmetry ….there’s a slight poetry to it somehow.”

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.”

The veteran radio presenter passed away at the age of 69 and was found dead at his London flat on Monday. But cops said that Steve's death was "not being treated as suspicious" after he was pronounced dead at the scene

The Beeb are this weekend airing a series of specials in his honour. A special commission celebrating Steve Wright’s BBC career will be aired later this year.

However, a spokesman for the BBC 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. There was no mention of afternoons or Radio 2."

Tom Bryant