Scott appears in a best man’s speech
Will called to explain that Scott had unexpectedly become part of his wedding day.
His best man had spoken about being present for friends during both life’s highs and its lows, using the period when Scott was absent from the radio as an example of a difficult time.
Will said the line received one of the biggest laughs of the speech.
He had married Millie after 11 years together and described her as looking like a real-life Disney princess.
The Birthday Game: Hilda
Hilda from Dumfries turned 66 and was celebrating with an overnight stay in the Lake District and a hot-stone massage.
She had completed 92 parkruns and spent her retirement paddleboarding and wild swimming.
Her first Birthday Game song was The Righteous Brothers’ Unchained Melody, returned to number one in 1990 following its use in Ghost. Hilda liked Patrick Swayze but still rejected the song.
She did not recognise her second choice and passed again.
Her compulsory third spin landed on the Spice Girls, leaving her satisfied with the result.
Scott promised to send her one of the programme’s birthday balloons.
Davina McCall revisits a 1998 interview
Davina arrived wearing running gear after sprinting to the station from Tunbridge Wells.
Scott remembered asking her for tickets to a Big Brother eviction before they knew each other well. He then arrived with his brother, sister-in-law and around ten other people. Davina welcomed the entire group, and Scott said his family still remembered how kind she had been.
Davina said she remained in contact with several devoted Big Brother audience members she had first met during the programme’s eviction nights.
Scott then introduced “Same Interview”, using questions Davina had answered for a magazine in 1998 to see whether her responses had changed 24 years later.
Asked for the most outrageous thing she had ever done, Davina immediately remembered urinating between two parked cars after leaving a pub. Midway through, the occupants of one car switched on its headlights.
Her answer was almost identical to the one she had given in 1998. “I couldn’t stop,” she said. “I was so embarrassed.”
For a desert island, Davina’s modern choices included a bath, neon-green Badedas bubble bath and a citrus-scented candle. In 1998 she had chosen her rescue dog Rosie, a book and cocoa butter so her skin would not dry out.
Davina explained that Rosie had slept in her bed until she married Matthew Robertson, who was allergic to dogs. Rosie was gradually moved from the bed, then the bedroom and eventually downstairs.
Asked what she found seductive in a man, Davina’s 2022 answer was “an educated, interested brain”. Her 1998 answer had been “sensitivity and generosity of spirit”, which surprised her with how thoughtful it sounded.
Her idea of a romantic evening had also changed. In 2022 she wanted food, conversation, a good film to discuss afterwards and perhaps a walk beside a river. In 1998 she had wanted someone to surprise her and tell her to put on glamorous clothes before going out.
The older interview also referred to a mystery man she had her eye on. Davina revealed that she had been on lunch dates with four men around that period and that Matthew had ultimately “won”.
She described revisiting the old questions as “quite cathartic” and said: “I wasn’t as much of a wally as I thought I was.”
Davina congratulated Scott on joining Radio 2, telling him: “I just feel like this is your home.”
Scott asked whether she would continue sending him frequent messages. Davina promised she would, and Scott replied that he loved hearing from her.
Countdown turns 40
The programme marked the 40th anniversary of Countdown and revisited the programme’s place in British daytime television.
Scott also discussed archive television, including the experience of seeing early-1990s Top of the Pops performances repeated on BBC Four.
Handover
Scott handed over after another afternoon of listener stories, the Birthday Game and Davina’s guest appearance.
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