The Daily Mirror’s Weird Hatchet Job On BBC Radio DJ Steve Wright
DID you read about “the bizarre world of Steve Wright” in the Mirror?
Ryan Parry’s shocking expose on showbiz life is front-page news.
The Mirror online calls the BBC radio disc jockey “weird“. How weird is he? Well, let’s pick out the highlights:
Weird Fashion:
HE cuts a shambling and eccentric figure in ill-fitting black clothes with cap askew.
Weirdly Low-Key:
Off air he leads a surprisingly unassuming life for such a well-loved celebrity, shunning interviews and TV appearances. Instead he seems to prefer his own company, living on cheap microwave meals and junk snacks.
Weird Teeth:
“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.
Weird & Fat:
But colleagues say his weight battle – he has ballooned to 18st in the past – may reflect a deeper sadness…One colleague says a typical instruction for when Steve starts work each day would begin with the words: “I’ve one piece of advice: just get the meals right! F*** the rest up, but just get that right and you’re sailing.”
Weird Eats:
“The producer will ring you when Steve gets in to come to get his order. He’ll tell you what he wants for both feedings and will give you money.” For breakfast, he usually asks for poached or scrambled eggs on brown toast from a restaurant called Avelli’s, porridge from Make Mine or Eat, a small bacon or sausage butty with ketchup from Eat and a skinny latte with one sweetener. For lunch, he insists on a baked potato from Avelli’s or chilli chicken box from Leon’s or he may opt for a chicken pie from Eat.
Weirdly Generous:
The insider says that on Fridays at the pre-recording for his Sunday Morning Love Songs show, Steve usually offers to buy his production team breakfast – but rarely has the right money. Assistants are told: “He rarely gives enough dosh, so raid the swear tin.”
Weird Mum:
Steve regularly travels to visit his mum on Fridays in Oxted in Surrey and he asks the broadcasting assistant to get him train tickets. “Steve doesn’t queue, so you’ll need to get him the ticket before he leaves for the station,” the source adds.
Weirdly Shy:
Friends struggle to pinpoint the root of Steve’s weight issues and intense off-air shyness.
Might it be that he fears hatchet job in the tabloid press?
Weird London:
Home for Steve is now a £1million bachelor flat in Central London, above a scruffy garage where he parks his black Range Rover.
Weird drinks:
He will have an occasional drink at the nearby BBC club. But he prefers to pick up a microwave TV dinner and a mini bottle of white wine from his local corner shop along with bags of crisps and chocolates.
Who says you need to hack phones to get great showbiz exclusives?
Photos: RADIO 1 DJ’S GARY DAVIES, STEVE WRIGHT AND SIMON BATES – 1988
Posted: 7th, August 2011 | In: Celebrities Comments (4) | TrackBack | Permalink
