'It was a pinch me moment' - Meet the Geordie lad taking over BBC Radio 1's early breakfast show

A 24-year-old from Newcastle has landed a dream presenting role as he is set to take over BBC Radio 1's early breakfast show.

Chris Howard will be taking on the show every Friday throughout February 2024 as he warms listeners up for the station's iconic Greg James.

The former Gateshead College student studied Media Production at the University of Sunderland, where he graduated earlier this year.

During his studies, Chris got his first taste of radio presenting when he hosted the breakfast show on Spark, the university's 24-hour community radio station.

Chris currently hosts Spark's weekly new music show and was recognised for his presenting talent when he won the Student Radio Association's (SRA) Demo Factor back in April.

Chris commented: "I travelled to Exeter in April for the SRACon, which was a long drive from the North East.

"I wasn't actually going to enter Demo Factor but a lot of other people from Spark were entering so I just thought 'why not?' and submitted a demo the night before.

"My demo ended up getting played out and I received a golden buzzer from Aled Haydn Jones, the head of Radio 1, as well as from Paul Sylvester, content director for the Absolute Radio Network.

"Following that, I ended up chatting with Aled and then went to London a couple of months later to do some shadowing at the BBC.

"From there, we've looked at the possibility of me presenting on Radio 1 and on the back of that, I'm going to be doing early mornings on Fridays in February."

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Chris has also shared with NewcastleWorld how he felt when he found out that he would be taking on the show and revealed how those closest to him reacted.

He added: "It was definitely a pinch me moment, it is crazy to be honest. I'm excited and nervous at the same time but really looking forward to it.

"Being from the North East, you don't tend to hear too many Geordie accents getting on air for a national station so I'm happy to be doing it for the North East.

"Everyone at Spark has been amazing and very supportive when they found out.

"My mam and dad were definitely in shock, my mam has been sharing the news with all of her friends.

"On the back of the announcement, I've been speaking to my former teachers at Gateshead College to go in and speak to the current audio production students, which is also really exciting."