Daily Mail: Steve Wright was set for BBC Radio 2 comeback before his death

Story from Daily Mail:

Steve Wright was due to make a comeback to BBC Radio 2 as part of a line-up for a 'pop nostalgia' spin-off station before his death.

Bosses unveiled plans last week to introduce four new radio stations in an attempt to claw back alienated listeners to the BBC, including a new Radio 2 spin-off focusing on the music of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

The station would've been the new home of the legendary DJ's Sunday Love Songs show, which he had been presenting on the channel since 1996, prior to his 'very sudden' death earlier this week.

Fellow BBC Radio 2 host Paul Gambaccini, who is also set to appear on the spin off, revealed he and Steve were due to attend a zoom meeting to discuss the plans yesterday and both had no idea 'what it was going to be'.

One BBC star told MailOnline that Steve had been 'talking to Radio 2 bosses just two or three days ago' and they were aware he was 'struggling with his health a bit but nothing that seemed this serious'.

Gambaccini told The Telegraph: 'I last spoke to him on Saturday. I had no idea that he was unwell. He mentioned to me that he’d had doctors’ appointments but that doesn’t transfer to being fatally ill so I was completely surprised, as well as saddened, by this devastating news.'

Another BBC star also revealed Wright's death was seen as 'very, very sudden' by colleagues, as he was in touch with bosses at the station within just the last few days.

They told the Mail: 'Steve had been talking to Radio 2 bosses just two or three days ago… we were aware he was struggling with his health a bit but nothing that seemed this serious.

'It has come as a huge shock. Nobody can believe it. 10-'He was engaging with his colleagues so recently. It doesn't seem at all real.'

The Radio 2 spin-off will provide 'a distinctive take on pop nostalgia' from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, the BBC said.

It will employ 'some of the people who shaped the cultural landscape at the time' along with current presenters.

The BBC added that it will 'bring heritage artist catalogues and stories to life in a much deeper and more richly textured manner than the main mixed-genre Radio 2 schedule can allow'.

The corporation said: '[It will] bring heritage artist catalogues and stories to life in a much deeper and more richly textured manner than the main mixed-genre Radio 2 schedule can allow.'

The announcement of the radio shake up came as recent audience figures revealed that Radio 2 has continued to shed listeners since Ken Bruce's shock departure last year after three decades.

It came after a string of older presenters either left the station or were sidelined. Steve Wright was replaced by the younger Scott Mills.

The listeners who have quit Radio 2 are thought to have defected to stations such as Greatest Hits Radio and Boom Radio. Bruce's show on Greatest Hits Radio boasts 3.8million listeners each week.

Steve joined BBC Radio 1 in 1980 to host a Saturday evening show before moving on to host Steve Wright In The Afternoon a year later until 1993.

Wright then fronted the Radio 1 Breakfast show for a year until 1995, and completed a stint at commercial radio stations before returning to BBC Radio 2 in 1996 to host Steve Wright's Saturday Show and Sunday Love Songs.

In 1999, he recreated Steve Wright In The Afternoon every weekday on Radio 2, with celebrity interviews and entertaining trivia featured in his Factoids segment, before stepping down in September 2022.

Former BBC Radio 1 host Scott Mills took over the afternoon slot as part of the station's schedule shake-up.

Wright continued to present Sunday Love Songs on BBC Radio 2 and since October last year, he presented the long-running show Pick Of The Pops, which had previously been fronted by Paul Gambaccini.

Earlier this morning BBC Radio 2 was 'inundated' with messages paying tribute to Steve in the first morning show since his death aged 69.

The channel was overwhelmed with calls on Wednesday from 'devastated' listeners who revealed how the 'kind, funny, humble and loveable' star put a smile on their faces each week.

Fans shared their heartfelt memories with a teary Nicki Chapman while she sat in for Zoe Ball, who was absent for unknown reasons, in a special BBC breakfast show dedicated to the beloved broadcaster.

The 'one in a million' radio presenter was adored by generations of families across the UK, with some saying he 'was like a friend' and others expressing how they are struggling to come to terms with his death.

Nicki started the show by saying: 'It is so difficult to sum up what Steve meant to all of us. The devastatingly sad news has come as a complete shock.

'Everyone seems to have such fond memories of our Wrighty because that's how we viewed and that's how we listened to him.

'He was ours. He was our mate, talking to us in our kitchens as we made a brew, in our bedrooms, in the shower, in our cars, taxis, lorries, in our form rooms at school, in our gardens, at work - he was always in our hearts.'

She added: 'It is a difficult day, it is a difficult day for all of us but we are doing him justice.'

At the start of her show yesterday evening, fellow BBC Radio 2 DJ Jo Whiley said: '(This is) a very strange show to be doing. 

'It's extremely hard to know what to say and to be talking about someone that you saw only days ago in this very studio where I am right now - doing a tribute show to that person just does not feel right.

'It's very hard to find the words to say and to talk about someone in the past tense when it's someone that you wish was very much still here. So it's tough. The Radio 2 family are devastated.

'There have been many tears... we've all worked with Steve Wright for years and years and years, and it's just very difficult to take in that he's no longer here.'

Ken Bruce said he was 'totally shocked to hear the news'.

He added: 'We were planning lunch to celebrate the award of his richly deserved MBE.

'An outstanding and innovative broadcaster whose listeners loved him. What a loss to the world of radio.'

Presenter Sara Cox said: 'It's really hard to know what to say about the news of Steve Wright's passing, except we are all shocked and devastated and blindsided by this news.

'Steve was an extraordinary broadcaster, a really kind person, he was witty, he was warm, and he was a huge, huge part of the Radio 2 family, and I know my fellow DJs will all be absolutely shattered too.'