‘RADIO IS WHERE THE FUNNEST PEOPLE ARE’

DESERT ISLAND DISCS HOST LAUREN LAVERNE ON WHY THE ICONIC SHOW IS STILL MUSIC TO HER EARS

- RHIANNA BENSON

Radio star Lauren Laverne has been a firm favourite in the music world since the early 2000s and is hailed as one of the UK's most successful DJs on the airwaves.

But arguably her most impressive achievement to date arrived when she landed her dream job as the presenter of much-loved radio show Desert Island Discs in 2018.

"They asked me and I quite literally jumped at the chance!" Lauren, 44, tells us.

"I was originally covering for Kirsty [Young] as an interim presenter while she was poorly - which was an intimidating honour in itself because beforehand, I was an absolutely obsessive Desert Island Discs listener.

"I've always been a fan because in my eyes, it's the ultimate radio programme, so I was overjoyed yet instantly terrified when they asked me to stay. It's like the national treasure of radio shows. It felt like I'd been given the keys to the British Museum or St Paul's Cathedral! I couldn't be happier."

With over 3,000 guests, or "castaways" as they are known, having featured on the BBC Radio 4 show since it launched 80 years ago, including Dame Judi Dench, Sir David Attenborough, Tom Hanks and Professor Stephen Hawking, Lauren admits that she struggles to whittle down her favourites.

"You're immersed in a different life every week," she explains. "And with every week - every interview that goes by - I think, 'Oh, this one has been my favourite!' Every single one is equally fascinating because of how much you learn about the world. One of my particular favourites was an interview with physicist Brian Greene because I went home and taught my husband [DJ Graeme Fisher] everything I’d learned about string theory. Who can say they learned that at work?”