Greta Thunberg had terrified Scott from another studio
Greg James had hosted Greta Thunberg on *Unpopular Opinion* that morning.
Scott thought the interview was brilliant.
He was also relieved it had been Greg’s job rather than his.
Greta intimidated him.
The programme replayed her views on British food.
She was not especially impressed, although baked beans escaped criticism.
She also confirmed that Swedish people genuinely do go to IKEA, which Scott treated as important cultural verification.
Another observation about British children eating white toast with peanut butter and jam made everybody in the studio feel faintly judged.
Scott joked that even hearing clips of Greta made him want to hide his lunch.
Dua Lipa walked straight from the Live Lounge into Radio 1
The day’s main guest was Dua Lipa.
Rather than letting her finish the Live Lounge and move on, Scott asked her to sit down and listen back almost immediately.
This had become one of his favourite things to do with artists.
Listeners hear a polished performance.
The performer hears every tiny breath, note or choice they might have made differently.
Dua was no exception.
The self-review was much harsher than the audience reaction
Messages had already arrived praising the performance.
One listener said she sat in the car rather than getting out because she wanted to hear the whole thing.
Another said seeing Dua perform live again made future concerts feel slightly more real.
Dua herself naturally focused on details.
Scott kept reminding her that the audience was hearing the complete performance rather than the microscopic imperfections artists tend to notice in themselves.
The segment reinforced something the show had discovered repeatedly:
people who sound completely assured on stage can become surprisingly awkward when made to review themselves seconds later.
A taxi-driver connection to Dua’s dad finally got mentioned
Scott also fulfilled a promise from an earlier taxi journey.
A driver had told him he knew Dua’s father and had even shown him photographs.
Scott had promised to mention this the next time he saw her.
The Live Lounge interview therefore included the extremely important update that somebody Scott had once met in a cab knew her dad.
Dua took the information with the level of enthusiasm it deserved.
Grimmy stepped in for the quiz
Chris was away, so Nick Grimshaw joined Scott for Don’t Look It Up.
That gave the episode a slightly different chemistry.
The quiz remained competitive enough that replacing one presenter did not make it any more peaceful.
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