Hirsty returns to the radio
By James Cridland for media.info
Posted 29 June 2015, 11.27am edt
The award-winning presenter Stephanie Hirst is joining BBC Radio Manchester, the BBC have announced. It's her first show on mainstream radio for over a year.
Formerly known as Simon, Hirsty left her Capital FM Yorkshire breakfast show in June last year. She later announced her gender transition on Stephen Nolan’s BBC Radio 5 live show, and appeared at the Radio Festival to a standing ovation.
Stephanie will be hosting Nothing But The 90s, playing favourite nineties songs and talking to callers each Saturday night across Manchester.
Managing Editor of BBC Radio Manchester, Kate Squire, says that Stephanie is hugely respected in the industry and will be given a warm welcome by her new colleagues and listeners. "It’s fantastic that Stephanie is returning to the airwaves at BBC Radio Manchester – she’s a brilliant broadcaster, and should be on air. It’s going to be a fabulous show and I know that our listeners will love her!"
Stephanie started her career in radio at just twelve years old, making tea for radio presenters at Radio Aire in Leeds. Given the overnight slot, she then moved on to Minster FM in York, The Pulse in West Yorkshire, Hallam FM in Sheffield, Viking FM in Hull, and then Galaxy in Yorkshire, which rebranded as Capital Yorkshire. She also co-presented the Hit40UK network chart show.
She's been off the radio since June 2014, but in April 2015 she hosted a one-off internet radio show in support of Record Store Day.
Stephanie has picked up a total of 14 awards, including numerous Sony Awards and a Radio Academy nomination for her broadcast work. Since January 2015, Stephanie has been a regular on ITV’s Lorraine, where she is a mentor for their ‘Change One Thing’ feature.
Stephanie says: "My love of radio has been well documented and I always said I would return, but I wanted to ensure that my return is gentle and allows me time to grow into a broadcaster as Stephanie. BBC Radio Manchester has offered me the chance to do just this and ease myself in with a wonderful production team and the support of the corporation as a whole.
I'm excited and looking forward to getting back behind the mic, playing my favourite 90’s records and talking to callers each Saturday night across Manchester."
Stephanie Hirst presents her first show on BBC Radio Manchester, Saturday July 4th from 10.00pm. It'll be available for seven days after transmission on BBC iPlayer Radio.