Back to topic, I think what has shown time and time again over the years is that the listeners are able to spot from a mile off who genuinely loves radio and being on Radio 1 and those are the ones who connect best with listeners. The likes of Scott, Greg and Jordan for example connect with listeners in a way that most celeb hires over the year really haven't.  That's not to say that you can't be a celeb hire and succeed or that not starting from student radio is the end of the world. Mollie King for example was probably able to get her foot in the door by being a celebrity but quickly got the radio bug and put in the time and effort to learn and improve and was prepared to do off peak slots for several years before ending up on weekdays.  So it's not a set rule either way. But yep if you're not a radio person it's probably better to have a gradual rise and start from cover to a weekend/early slot rather than being too fast-tracked and being seen as the 'golden child' of TPTB. 

I really enjoy James but can see him having a career similar to Dev where he's around for quite a while and gets to cover weekday a fair bit but doesn't get a weekday role of his own except maybe Early Breakfast (which is a fairly off-peak slot) And that's not a bad thing - Dev was on Radio 1 for over a decade. 

The involvement thing with the station is key - on paper Jamie Lang had all the problems Maya Jama had, but he’s involved himself in stations events and (despite no radio experience prior to my knowledge) has thrown himself into station events and sounded really keen to be there.

I think James cussack will be on weekdays the few years he’s like Jordan north good at hay ever show he covers 

You are genuinely the first person on any forum I've seen say something good about her. Personally I thought she was a dreadful DJ - she was clearly not that interested in the station (never joined in any of the multi-presenter events), her shows were bland, she seemed to know very little and have no passion about the music she played, and she was technically very weak. The only positive I can say about her is that she was better than Danny Beard 😂

I think it’s unfair to call Maya a disaster! 😂 I used to love her show. Yes she dropped the odd clanger 😆 but she was fun and more enjoyable to listen to than some I could mention. 

Radio 1 Dance 1st-5th September Charlie Tee in for Connor Coates