Ricky Gervais snatched control of my radio show | Rick Jackson

Some of the boxes up there haven’t been touched since I moved to the mainland... in 1997.

Right in a back corner were some plastic boxes which contain all the bits and bobs I’ve felt have been important during my time as a radio presenter on the south coast.

Things like my first playlist and a tape of my first live radio show.

Oh my days, it was awful. I cringed and wouldn’t let my wife Sarah listen!

There were plenty of embarrassing old photographs too – publicity pictures of when I started on Power FM in 1996.

When I got the breakfast show a year later and overslept for the first time, I remember the photographer from The News coming in to take a mocked up photo of me asleep on the control desk. That was fun...

I also discovered loads of old ‘reel-to-reel’ and DAT tapes from shows and interviews, including one with The Spice Girls.

I remember that day very well. I had to travel to Leicester Square for the interview as they were far too famous to come down to Fareham.

At that time, Power FM had only four other sister stations, in London, Birmingham, Sussex and Kent.

I remember Dr Fox coming out of the studio saying the girls were getting tired and bored being asked the same old questions.

I had an idea. Mel B and Victoria were expecting their first babies, so I went to the M&S below the radio station and bought loads of chocolates.

When I entered the studio to see them, four bored looking girls lit up with excitement and I had one of my best interviews ever, accompanied by the sound of wrapping paper!

My favourite photo is of when Ricky Gervais came into Wave 105 live on my show. I knew he had radio experience so asked if he would like to take the controls.

I still remember how his hands shook with fear when he pressed the buttons.

Oh, I do enjoy my trips to the loft!

To those with only the one brain cell: Don’t infect others

A colleague of mine; male, 40, with an 18-month-old baby, was admitted to intensive care at the weekend after testing positive for Covid. He’s not overweight, goes to the gym regularly and runs 5km twice a week.

He was admitted to ICU with his lungs full of fluid. He’s now slowly recovering but doctors told his wife he was lucky. He has no idea how he caught it as he’s only been at home. He thinks it was from a delivery driver.

The big issue remains: those who do not take this stuff seriously. To all the conspiracy theorists, anti-vaxxers and/or people with only one brain cell which you need simply to breath: don’t infect others.

No-one wants blood on their hands do they?​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

How will history judge our maverick, unpolished PM?

The man deemed too dangerous to be allowed on Twitter and Facebook but still has the nuclear weapon codes, will be playing golf on one of his courses when normality returns to US politics next week.

I wonder how our PM now feels after suggesting Donald Trump could win the Nobel Peace Prize? Maybe Trump was a product of a nation wanting something different to the polished politics of Obama and Bush?

After polished Blair and Cameron, bungling Boris seemed destined to be PM. The nation fancied a maverick, something different. Will Boris be remembered as the one who delivered a boom after Brexit and conquered Covid? This time next year we will know.

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