Friday Extra Show: only half an hour before somebody else needed the studio
Extra podcast edition
Chris recorded the Friday episode under time pressure.
The studio was booked again in half an hour.
That meant everything had to move quickly.
He still wanted the usual ingredients: a catch-up with Scott, one of the week’s standout listeners, Good News Jamie and questions about the show.
The extra podcast had become established enough that Chris no longer needed to justify why it existed.
It was simply what happened on Friday.
Scott had gone back to Strictly
Chris called Scott and found him working on the official *Strictly Come Dancing* podcast.
Returning to the studio after competing on the programme four years earlier felt to Scott like going back to an old school.
The corridors, rooms and people were familiar.
The stress was not.
He was no longer waiting to find out whether he had survived another dance.
Instead, production staff were giving him clothes, shoes and access to dressing rooms so he could record promotional material.
At one point Scott was using Shirley Ballas’s dressing room and had been given an item belonging to Bruno Tonioli to wear.
Chris asked whether somebody who was not already a huge Strictly fan should subscribe to the podcast.
Scott gave an unusually honest answer.
If they did not care about the programme, probably not.
If they loved Strictly and wanted behind-the-scenes detail, absolutely.
Nicole had become famous at home
Nicole returned after her first-flight conversations.
Her family had heard the calls and found them hilarious.
She compared the experience with a scene from *Gavin & Stacey*: relatives gathering around to listen again and discuss the fact one of their own had suddenly been on Radio 1.
Nicole admitted she had replayed the programme repeatedly.
Friends and family thought she had been gullible.
Chris preferred to call her inexperienced.
She had never flown before.
Why would she know that passengers were not, in fact, expected to salute their way onto the aircraft?
The flight to Amsterdam was still a week away.
The show was not finished with her.
Good News Jamie could actually rap
Good News Jamie joined for his weekly catch-up.
Chris had seen him posting about learning Eminem lyrics.
Jamie immediately demonstrated.
He launched into sections of rap with surprisingly good timing.
Chris was impressed by how naturally Jamie hit the rhythm and ad-libs.
Jamie explained that he had previously worked as an entertainer and had always been good at remembering exactly when small vocal parts appeared in songs.
The Friday podcast had introduced him as the man capable of finding good news in almost anything.
Now he was gradually developing a second identity as Radio 1’s unexpectedly competent amateur rapper.
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