Scott and Chris were still on Breakfast
Twenty-four hours after removing Greg James from his own programme, Scott and Chris remained firmly in charge.
They had even altered the Breakfast Show music to make it more suitable for them.
Greg was still in Brighton trying to complete the giant floating Radio 1 jigsaw required to win his job back.
Eight of the 20 pieces had been located.
None had yet been properly assembled when the morning began.
Millions had seen one at the Women’s Euros
One of the most visible pieces had appeared during coverage of the Women’s Euros.
It was positioned behind Gabby Logan during the television broadcast.
Listeners watching the match began flooding social media with the same message: there it is.
A listener named Georgina managed to obtain it after the game and brought it to Brighton the next morning.
People leaving the stadium had recognised what she was carrying and shouted about the missing piece as she went.
The Radio 1 game had crossed into a major live television event.
The first piece finally entered the lagoon
Georgina joined Greg on the water.
The enormous jigsaw frame floated beside them.
The first piece was initially upside down and had to be manoeuvred into place from a paddleboard.
Eventually it was turned correctly and fitted into the frame.
After more than a day of searching and transportation, the giant puzzle finally contained one actual piece.
Nineteen remained.
Radio 1 sent Greg up the i360
Another official statement arrived.
Management congratulated him on the progress but bluntly said they had expected more pieces to have reached Brighton by now.
To accelerate the hunt, they gave him a clue.
A panoramic view would help.
He should go immediately to the top of the Brighton i360.
Greg travelled to the 450-foot observation tower and began scanning the city, beach and sea below for anything suspicious.
He could see rooftops, roads, basketball courts, boats and the remains of the West Pier.
He could not see a jigsaw piece.
The piece was on a yacht
Then a caller named Nira phoned with information.
She was on a yacht off Brighton.
The jigsaw piece was with her.
From the top of the tower, Greg could see the boat.
The bad news was that it was pointing away from him and gradually sailing further out to sea.
Nira would not bring it back.
What had initially sounded like a clue designed to help Greg had instead revealed a giant puzzle piece disappearing south on a yacht.
The entire team accepted that the challenge had moved to a new level of nonsense.
The logistics operation grew
By later in the show, nine pieces had been found, but only one had reached the floating frame.
Other pieces were moving through improvised listener relay networks.
One was travelling from Skegness.
Others were being routed via Newcastle and other cities as strangers volunteered to carry them another stage towards Brighton.
Scott and Chris remained delighted by the slow progress because every delay extended their temporary ownership of Breakfast.
Pop stars made new breakfast jingles
To mark their unexpected morning residency, the pair also called in favours from musician friends.
Ella Henderson recorded a personalised version of “21 Reasons” on a voice note, transformed with production into a Breakfast Show jingle.
The rough-and-ready recording fitted perfectly.
The whole event felt like a compressed version of the Scott and Chris era: a national-scale stupid idea, listeners doing most of the difficult work and pop stars somehow being recruited into it.
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