TV & Radio

Irish DJ Annie Mac to leave BBC Radio 1 after 17 years

Dubliner, whose first novel is due in May, will still host Changes with Annie Macmanus podcast

Irish DJ Annie Mac: it’s ‘hard to articulate’ what her BBC Radio 1 job ‘has meant to me’. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty

Hannah J Davies
Tue Apr 20 2021 - 11:51

Annie Mac is to leave BBC Radio 1 after 17 years. The Irish presenter – full name Annie Macmanus – presents the new-music show Future Sounds on weekdays between 6pm and 8pm, as well as a dance-music-oriented Friday-night show.

The BBC said that Mac had fronted “some incredible moments on BBC Radio 1, from live sessions to landmark interviews with the world’s biggest artists. Sending all of our love, appreciation and luck for the future to Annie.”

Mac told her followers on Twitter and Instagram that it was “hard to articulate what this job has meant to me”, going on to outline her career trajectory since joining the station as a production assistant, in 2002, and landing her first solo show – Annie Mac’s Mashup – in 2004.

“I’m still in awe of the magic of music radio,” said Mac. “Of the responsibility of handling these songs that are so powerful they can stop you in your tracks and make your emotions soar. I have never not walked out of the studio feeling lighter and happier than when I walked in.”

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Explaining her decision to leave the station, Mac – whose debut novel, Mother Mother, is due for publication in May – said that she wanted to spend more time with her two children, and to work on writing fiction and podcasting. The presenter hosts the popular podcast Changes with Annie Macmanus, which sees her interview fellow creatives about changes in their personal and professional lives.

She said: “I also love the idea of leaving the party (and make no mistake working at Radio 1 does feel like a party) with a huge smile on my face, when I’m still having the most fun I can have. I will be coming back to radio broadcasting when the time is right”. She thanked listeners for “allowing me into your lives. Thank you for brightening my days.” Her last show will be broadcast on July 30th.

Clara Amfo, the BBC broadcaster who competed in the most recent series of the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, will take over Mac’s Future Sounds show from September. – Guardian

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