Laura Margaret Busson (née Sayers; born 11 October 1978) is a British radio producer and executive, currently Commissioning Executive at BBC Radio 2 and deputy to the station’s Head of Station, Helen Thomas. She is best known for her earlier role as Broadcast Assistant and later Assistant Producer on The Scott Mills Show on BBC Radio 1, where she became a popular on-air personality in her own right, particularly through the long-running feature Laura’s Diary.
Quick facts
- Born: 11 October 1978
- Education: The Mount School, York; MA Hons Theatre & English Language, University of Glasgow
- Occupation: Radio producer and executive
- Employer: BBC (current); previously Bauer Media, Communicorp UK
- Known for: The Scott Mills Show, Laura’s Diary, One Night with Laura
- Spouse: James Busson
Early life and education
Busson was born in York and educated at The Mount School in the city. She studied at the University of Glasgow from 1997 to 2001, graduating with an MA Hons in Theatre and English Language. While at university, she gained her first radio experience presenting on the student station Subcity Radio.
Radio 1 career
Joining the Scott Mills Show
Busson began at BBC Radio 1 through a BBC Talent production traineeship, alongside Jocelyn Stainer of The Chris Moyles Show. Towards the end of the traineeship, she began working on The Scott Mills Show, initially as a Broadcast Assistant — a role she shared at the time with colleague Neil. The show’s producer during this period was Emlyn, also known on air as “The One That Doesn’t Speak.” Broadcast Assistant roles across the station were scrapped in May 2006, at which point Busson became an Assistant Producer. She also occasionally produced shows for Scott Mills, Sara Cox, and JK and Joel during this period.
On-air role
Although primarily a production role, Busson became one of the show’s most popular on-air voices. She was known early on for “wacky stunts” and “social experiments,” including an attempt to get herself an ASBO in 2005, and a recurring segment, Laura the Vigilante, in which she confronted members of the public over minor antisocial behaviour — bad parking, dog mess left uncleared, and similar everyday grievances. She also took part in stunts including dressing as a nun, “a bloke,” and Paris Hilton, testing how far she could go in public before being stopped or thrown out.
Laura’s Diary
Busson’s best-known feature began in October 2005, while the team was covering for an absent Chris Moyles. Her sister, Mary Sayers, had discovered Laura’s teenage diaries in her childhood bedroom in York and was invited to read them aloud on air. The feature ran across several “seasons”:
- Season 1 (2005): early teenage crushes, read initially in an American accent by Mary, a quirk that faded as the series continued.
- Season 2, “The College Years” (Jan 2006): included the revelation of a crush on her piano teacher, dated to 1996.
- Season 3: Laura meets “Ben,” from her brother Henry’s band Monster Sunshine, before moving to Glasgow for university.
- Season 4: chronicles the difficulties of a long-distance relationship with Ben during her time at university, ending with him breaking up with her by letter. A recurring, deliberately anonymised figure from this period is referred to on air only as “Mr X.”
- Season 5 (Oct 2006): the final season.
The feature proved popular enough to move to the afternoon show, and was later published as a book, Laura’s Diary, on 30 November 2006, including entries never broadcast on air.
One Night with Laura
Scott Mills repeatedly joked during the diary readings that, given how unlucky in love Laura seemed to be, he would personally help find her a partner — leading to a genuine Radio 1 tour, One Night with Laura, modelled loosely on The X Factor. Members of the public applied via the Radio 1 website.
The tour ran across the last week of March 2006, with live auditions held in Southampton, Cardiff, Nottingham, Newcastle, and Glasgow (no contestant qualified from the Glasgow leg). A judging panel — comprising Mills, Busson’s father Stephen, and colleague Chappers (the latter later replaced for part of the week by Mary Sayers and Jo Whiley) — assessed contestants through a series of unconventional tasks, including one contestant lying on a bed of nails and asking Busson to stand on his back.
Four finalists were chosen: Ben, James, Gareth, and Shep. James was voted out first by the public. The live final aired on 7 April 2006, with Gareth, from Chard, winning the public vote. Gareth and Busson subsequently spent a weekend together in Paris, but the relationship developed into a close friendship rather than a romance. Busson instead began a relationship with James Busson, the contestant who had been voted out first — it later emerged the pair had been involved before the competition’s result was even announced. James moved in with her in London later that year, and proposed during a trip to Amsterdam in October 2008, ending a long-running on-air joke about when the couple would get engaged. The two later married, and Busson took his surname.
Other on-air highlights
Busson presented the Radio 1 chart show alongside Mills and Chappers in March 2006, met Paris Hilton and Danny Jones of McFly in June 2006, and gained attention for a surprisingly convincing performance singing one of Paris Hilton’s own songs. She spent a day aboard a support boat during David Walliams’s Sport Relief swim of the English Channel, resulting in a phone interview with Richard and Judy and a brief appearance in the accompanying documentary. Later in 2007, she gained international attention, including coverage on CNN, after auditioning to become both Paris Hilton’s best friend and P Diddy’s personal assistant as part of separate on-air stunts.
Departure
Busson’s final day on The Scott Mills Show was 28 March 2008, marked by a “best bits” montage played over The Human League’s “Wonder Years.” She moved on to produce the Radio 1 weekend show hosted by Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates, including the Official Chart Show.
Later radio career
In June 2009, Busson became Assistant Producer of Nick Grimshaw’s new Radio 1 evening show. She went on to produce Huw Stephens’s two Wednesday night shows, and later succeeded producer Neil on Greg James’s show. In total, she spent over twelve years at BBC Radio 1 in various production roles, between September 2002 and November 2014.
In July 2015, she left the BBC to become Programme Controller at Heart Yorkshire, part of Communicorp UK, a role she held until 2019. She then joined Bauer Media’s Hits Radio as Senior Executive Producer, overseeing talent development and leading the launch of the new Hits Radio Breakfast show, fronted by Fleur East alongside Greg Burns and James Barr, in July 2019.
In August 2020, Busson rejoined the BBC as Commissioning Executive at BBC Radio 2, working as deputy to Head of Station Helen Thomas — a position she continues to hold.
Personal life
Busson is married to James Busson, whom she met during the One Night with Laura competition in 2006. The couple have a daughter Poppy Joy and a son Alfie. Her father, Stephen Sayers, is a former social psychologist turned children’s author; his 2024 book The Pig Who Went to Market is dedicated to and features a character based on Poppy, and received praise from Scott Mills.
Read Laura’s answers to Unofficial Mills’ questions back in the day here.