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Greg James has apologised and set the record straight after appearing to announce that he was leaving BBC Radio 1.
The Radio 1 Breakfast Show host, 39, sent fans into a frenzy after posting a statement on Instagram that he now admits was just ‘gentle trolling’.
In his original statement, Greg claimed the BBC was ‘under corporate control’ and that he wasn’t ‘about to continue his work messing around with stars’.
After the reaction that got on social media, however, Greg and his wife Bella Mackie quickly returned to Instagram to set the record straight.
It was obvious to some but not others, but the Radio 1 presenter had actually been poking fun at the recent hijinks between Neil Young and Glastonbury.
The legendary rock singer-songwriter, 79, pulled out of the Worthy Farm festival and then rejoined the line-up for 2025 within 24 hours last week.
Initially claiming the festival was ‘under corporate control’ after finding out the BBC were a Glastonbury partner, Neil backtracked quickly and cited an ‘error in information’.
After realising that not everyone understood his hilarious reference, Greg and Bella posted a new video to social media, in which Bella told Greg off for winding people up.
While Greg said, ‘I’m really enjoying the reaction to my post,’ Bella responded: ‘As I said to you, 99% of people wouldn’t know what you were talking about. Everyone else thinks you’re quitting in a rage.’
Greg insisted that he definitely wasn’t ‘quitting in a rage’ and defended his earlier joke by reminding Bella that some people did laugh at it.
‘I’m not trying to take over the world, I’m not trying to push any conspiracies – or a billionaire agenda,’ he said in his ‘apology for being hilarious’.
His initial joke statement said: ‘It seems Radio 1 is now under corporate control and is not the way I remember it being. Thanks for listening the last few years!
‘This also means we’ll no longer be conducting funerals for any more ducks. Radio 1 is a corporate turn-off, and not for me like it used to be. Hope to see you on one of my many podcasts instead.’
Greg took over the Breakfast Show in 2018 after former presenter Nick Grimshaw’s departure from Radio 1, and has hosted it ever since.
That came 11 years after he joined the station in his early 20s, and six years after he took over drivetime duties from veteran Scott Mills.
Away from Radio 1, Greg is also a huge cricket enthusiast and has hosted the BBC Sounds Tailenders podcast since its inception in November 2017.
Ironically, Greg has also presented much of the BBC’s Glastonbury Festival TV coverage over the years, with the two having been partnered since 1997.
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