Jamie Laing has hit back at critics who feel Radio 1 is turning into a ‘Posh Boys Club’ as he insists he’s ‘earned’ his new job after the BBC turned him down eight years ago.
The former Strictly contestant, 35, whose grandfather created the McVitie’s digestive biscuit, admitted ‘I am posh’ as he reflected on his privileged upbringing and being sent to a private boarding school by his wealthy parents.
But the Made In Chelsea star stands firm that he deserves the Radio 1 gig, which sees him take over from Jordan North, 34, who’s off to Capital FM, as co-host of the Going Home show, as much as anyone else, revealing he first applied for the role years ago but the BBC rejected him for being ‘too posh’ and inexperienced.
He also faced a backlash from those who believe his only claim to fame is featuring on the E4 reality series, which he believes discredits his previous radio work such as covering Mollie King’s maternity leave and hosting numerous podcasts for BBC Sounds.
In an exclusive interview with , Jamie says he’s ready to prove his haters wrong, and he vows to make the 3:30-6pm show ‘even better’ than when it was hosted by Jordan and his new co-star Vick Hope.
Jamie Laing has hit back at critics who feel Radio 1 is turning into a ‘Posh Boys Club’ as he insists he’s ‘earned’ his new job after the BBC turned him down eight years ago
The former Strictly contestant, whose grandfather created the McVitie’s digestive biscuit, admitted ‘I am posh’ as he reflected on his privileged upbringing
But the Made In Chelsea star stands firm that he deserves the new Radio 1 gig, which sees him take over from Jordan North as co-host of the Going Home show, as much as anyone else
He said: ‘I trialed for Radio 1 eight years ago, I honestly did, and the feedback was ‘Jamie, you’re just too posh.’
‘Sometimes from the outside and I do understand this, people think I just did Made In Chelsea and now I’m suddenly doing Radio 1, which is obviously not the case. I have been gunning for this job for eight years.
‘I truly think that if the only hurdle I personally have to jump over is the fact that people think I’m posh, it’s not the biggest hurdle in the world.
‘I am posh. My parents sent me to a private school, I had no choice in that, they sent me there and it’s the cross that I bare. I know in myself that I’m a hardworking and kind individual, so it doesn’t really bother me if I’m totally honest. I am posh and I can’t change it.’
Some listeners have made complaints over the station recruiting DJs with privileged backgrounds such as Mollie King, who was in girlband The Saturdays, while others feel many of the daytime presenters have well-spoken accents like Matt Edmundson and breakfast host Greg James.
Formers stars of the Radio 1 breakfast show include Nick Grimshaw, 39, who grew up in Oldham, Leeds born Chris Moyles, and Sara Cox, originally from Bolton.
But Jamie believes there would have been a negative reaction over his signing regardless of the way he speaks and feels he always has more to prove after making a name for himself on reality TV.
He said: ‘I also think it doesn’t matter what accent I have, there was always going to be a backlash.
Jamie will be replacing Jordan and joining Vick Hope as well as Katie Thistleton on the Going Home show
The TV personality, who celebrated his vows to wife Sophie Habboo with a huge wedding party in May, is aiming high, and hopes to one day present the UK’s biggest night of music, the BRITs
The Candy Kittens owner told : ‘The dream is to host the Brit Awards, that’s the absolute dream. I am going to push for that’
‘I starred on Made In Chelsea and everyone told me, don’t do that show and said I was an idiot for doing it. And now I’ve had a pat on the back from Radio 1 and the BBC and for me it’s a real proud moment.
‘There are definitely people that look at reality TV in a certain way and I totally get it.
‘But at the same time it’s easy to forget the graft that people on these shows have done. It’s not just Made In Chelsea it’s Netflix shows, Love Island, it is graft and work hard and that’s why you see people that have been on reality TV shows do really great things. Look at Sam Thompson, he nailed it on I’m A Celeb.
‘Finally, I have got to a spot where people are saying yes to me. It has taught me that you just need to carry on putting one foot in front of the other and persisting and knocking down doors because at some point someone says, ‘what about that guy?’ and that’s what happened with me. Hopefully now I don’t f*** it up.’
While Jamie’s confident he can increase the listenership of the Going Home show, with the help of co-hosts Vick and Katie Thistleton, the Candy Kittens founder admits he still suffers from ‘imposter syndrome’ amid his growing success.
He added: ‘At the same time, I still have imposter syndrome going into this show. I have major imposter syndrome which is going to be really interesting to deal with. I have a lot of nerves going into it.
‘I want to do a good job… I am keen to prove to the haters that potentially I am an okay broadcaster, for me it’s exciting to prove people wrong.
‘It’s up to me and Radio 1 to really make sure that this show is even better than it was before. That’s my mission, to make it even better than it was when Vick and Jordan were doing it.’
And the TV personality, who celebrated his vows to wife Sophie Habboo with a huge Marbella wedding party in May, is aiming high, and hopes to one day present the UK’s biggest night of music, the BRIT Awards.
On Saturday evening, Capital breakfast show host Roman Kemp hosted the bash alongside Radio 1’s Clara Amfo and Maya Jama, making Jamie’s dream all the more possible.
He said: ‘I want to present from Glastonbury. I really am keen to do those things.
‘The dream is to host the Brit Awards, that’s the absolute dream. I am going to push for that. Music is just so important in our lives. We used to have TV shows like MTV back in the day and for whatever reason those shows don’t happen anymore.
‘We need to sing and shout and love music more than anything.’