Tom Grennan wrote to the football-mad boy he used to be
Scott returned to the afternoon show without Chris, who was away following the birth of his son.
The letter-to-your-10-year-old-self feature continued with Tom Grennan.
Tom wrote to the boy who had dreamed of playing football at Old Trafford and told him to enjoy those years for as long as possible. He warned his younger self that life would contain frightening change, including being attacked at 18 — an event that would turn everything upside down but ultimately redirect his life in a positive way.
He told young Tom to start singing and listening to older music earlier, because music was going to become his world.
The most emotional part involved family. Tom told his younger self to hug cousin Alan and tell his parents he loved them, because he would eventually understand how important family was.
There was also one piece of less serious advice: avoid the nose ring.
Tom admitted reading the letter had affected him more than he expected.
Charlie Hedges brought Don’t Look It Up back
Don’t Look It Up returned after a break with Charlie Hedges from Rickie, Melvin and Charlie taking on Scott.
The first round used IKEA product names.
“Dombås” had to be identified as a wardrobe, “Måla” as a lamp and Billy as the famous bookcase. Charlie’s alternative theory that Billy might be one of IKEA’s hot dogs did not earn a point.
Round two dug into forgotten Live Lounge covers.
Crystal Fighters covering Rudimental’s *Waiting All Night*, Ben Howard taking on Carly Rae Jepsen’s *Call Me Maybe* and Cage the Elephant doing Adele’s *Rolling in the Deep* all resurfaced.
Scott reached six points and briefly looked unstoppable.
Then came old pilot titles for television programmes.
*Stranger Things* had once been developed as *Montauk*. *The Big Bang Theory* had been *Lenny, Penny and Kenny*. *Lost* had originally been called *Nowhere*.
Charlie got the crucial final answer and snatched the win.
Zara Larsson joined from a very different version of lockdown
Zara Larsson did the day’s guest DJ set from Sweden.
She explained that Sweden had not experienced lockdown in quite the same way as the UK. Zara had personally spent a lot of time at home and enjoyed watching television, but she had still been able to see friends, go outside and even shoot a music video.
*Ozark* had been one of her big viewing discoveries.
Scott and Zara also reflected on how bizarre it was that *Tiger King* already felt like ancient history even though it had only exploded a few months earlier.
Megan, Beyoncé and Rosalía started the set
Zara opened with Megan Thee Stallion and Beyoncé’s *Savage* remix, describing Megan as one of the best rappers around and one of her favourite artists.
Next came Rosalía and Travis Scott’s *TKN*.
That sent the conversation briefly into Swedish pronunciation and rolled Rs, with Scott trying to imitate Zara’s pronunciation.
Scott then recommended *Below Deck* to her, only to discover she already loved it.
Zara had also been watching the *Real Housewives* franchise and agreed that Beverly Hills was particularly good.
Max Martin deserved his own moment
Zara’s classic choice was Britney Spears’ *…Baby One More Time*.
That allowed the pair to celebrate Swedish songwriter and producer Max Martin.
They ran through the extraordinary list of artists he had worked with over the decades, from Backstreet Boys and Britney to Kelly Clarkson, Pink, Taylor Swift and The Weeknd.
Zara said his ability to keep producing huge pop records across generations was almost impossible to understand.
She later chose Dua Lipa’s *Don’t Start Now*, calling it essentially a perfect pop song, before returning to another late-1990s classic with Christina Aguilera’s *Genie in a Bottle*.
Scott had been given some very bad baby intelligence
Chris’s absence led to an update on the baby.
Scott had been told — by somebody he trusted — that the baby’s name was Troy.
He assumed this might have been inspired by Watford player Troy Deeney.
There was only one problem.
The baby was not called Troy.
That would have been mildly embarrassing on its own, except Scott had already ordered a personalised blue baby blanket with Troy on the hood.
The blanket had been dispatched.
Scott checked the order and discovered there was nothing he could do.
Listeners tried to reassure him that Troy was at least a solid name, while Scott contemplated explaining why Chris’s unnamed son had received personalised bedding for an entirely different child.
He also corrected reports suggesting the birth had somehow happened live on Radio 1. It had not: Chris had called the programme afterwards from hospital.
Even the Bangers bot knew there had been a baby
With Chris away, a bot was choosing his side of Bangers.
It selected Big Brovaz’s *Baby Boy*, apparently because the day’s conversation had contained so many baby references.
Scott’s own choice was September’s *Cry for You*.
For a show without Chris, his new son still managed to dominate the final part of the programme — helped considerably by Scott having bought him the wrong blanket.
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