Mollie King and Maya Jama I simply connect with Radio 1 and nothing else. I know of nothing they did beforehand frankly. Maybe it's because I don't follow what they may have been involved in beforehand. Or a generational thing.
It's a small career risk if your already a celeb doing a radio 1 show, if it doesn't work out it's all forgotten in month nowdays. Hence why the likes of Kelly Osbourne couldn't of cared less if she turned up or not in the late 00s. You end up back on TV or something. Your not going to end up on hospital radio (nothing wrong there btw), if it doesn't work.
The thing is where does this all leave the next generation of wannabe Radio 1 DJ's who don't have that TV platform, or even social media platform? That avenue is an overcrowded house anyway. Maybe, like Steve Wright was, they aren't into being on camera but come alive behind a radio mic.
In 1997 an overweight 20 something year old bloke made his way to early breakfast on radio 1, and got promoted from within. Seems like now the likes of him, and even a raw circa 2007/8 Greg James would have a harder time to get to the top. You could even put Annie Mac into that convo. She was a producer in 2001/2, that ended up taking over from Zane Lowe a decade on when he left.
Without going on, let me ask you this simply. If a circa 1998 Scott Mills went for a job at Radio 1, today. As good as he was even then. Do you think he would even get a look in?