Former Radio 2 Presenter Janey Lee Grace On Manifestation, Music And Life On The Mic

Throughout her career, Janey Lee Grace has taken the meaning of multi-hyphenate to new levels. From touring as a backing vocalist with Wham! to co-hosting BBC Radio Two’s Steve Wright in the Afternoon, she’s got enough dinner party stories to last a lifetime.

Her latest challenge has been to distil them all into just one book, a new memoir From WHAM! To WOO: A Life on the Mic. We caught up with the author, singer, and presenter ahead of publication to find out how she landed all the opportunities, the lessons she learnt, and the stars she met along the way.

‘Nothing Was Handed To Me On A Plate’

While Janey has undeniably landed some incredible gigs in her time, the author says a theme throughout the book is thatshe was never handed anything on a plate. “I didn’t have a leg up, ever, so anything that was going to happen for me in any way I had to make happen,” she says.

Growing up in Nottingham with parents who both struggled with their mental health, the desire to create a different future for herself came early on: “I definitely had an ambitious streak, and I knew that I wanted, well, more,” she reflects. Although she didn’t know the process as manifesting back then, Janey says that is essentially what she was doing: “I used to literally set my intentions and decide what I wanted, and then go after it. And I think that’s been a kind of theme for my life.”

Janey Lee Grace at her production desk for BBC Radio 2. (Image Credit: BBC)

After studying a BA in Performing Arts at university — which she fondly abbreviates to ‘Bugger All in Pratting About’ in the book — Janey hustled hard to secure gigs in the music industry. As well as being a backing vocalist for artists including George Michael, Kim Wilde, Mari Wilson, and Boy George (and, of course, touring the world with Wham!), she also performed in cover bands, worked as a film extra, made it into the UK Top Ten Charts with dance act Cola Boy, was on Top of the Pops, and competed to represent the UK in Eurovision. Twice.

It was actually when she was doing the radio station press rounds for Wham! that a presenter asked her to stick around and read a few letters — it was then that she first discovered her love for radio.

Take A Nothing-To-Lose Attitude

Janey’s first radio job came in part thanks to her nothing-to-lose attitude. After hearing an advert for a free radio training course at Greater London Radio (now BBC London), she couldn’t believe her luck. Undeterred by the fact the course was aimed at people under 21 and living in Vauxhall, she sent off a “very cheeky application” to the Beeb, calling them out for being “Age-ist’ and ‘Area-ist’. A few days later, she got the call inviting her to enrol onto the course.

Years later, Janey says a similar approach led to her co-hosting gig on Steve Wright in the Afternoon: “I got my job with Steve Wright because I went up to him at a party and told him I’d be perfect. He used to laugh about that years later. Sometimes people are so shocked, they go: ‘Okay, yeah.’”

When the training course finished, Janey wanted to get stuck right in but was disappointed to learn that Greater London Radio didn’t need any phone operatives at that point. However, she struck gold when a weekend producer needed a hand with the early Sunday morning show, The Gospel Hour. Serendipitously, Janey had attended Church since she was young, and she not only knew a lot about contemporary Christian and gospel music, but was a genuine fan.

A few weeks later, the producer left, leaving Janey completely in charge. “I think I had quite a steep learning curve,” she says, adding: “I remember my very first show. I literally listened to myself back from behind a cushion. God, it was just awful. I just absolutely hated it. Hated the sound of my own voice.”

Thanks to Janey’s music expertise and access to great guests, the rest of the show was going pretty well — she just needed to master the presenting and production side of things. So, what changed? “I made a decision: Okay, look, I’ve just got to get myself up to speed. And one of the tips that someone gave me at the time — or I probably learned it in my training — was just this idea that with radio, you’re talking to one person.”

The first step, she explains, was creating that one listener in her mind. “I cut out a picture of a London cab driver because my show was really early on a Sunday morning, and I’d had messages from cab drivers. So I thought, well, that’s as good an audience as any to imagine,” Janey recalls. “I really wanted the show to appeal to a really wide variety of people. So a London cabbie felt exactly right for me. I literally stuck a picture of a London cab driver on the desk and I presented to him.”

Janey now always advises early-career presenters and journalists to record themselves: “Really get used to the sound of your own voice. Just keep constantly recording yourself. Back then, I hadn’t done that.”

The Power Of Being Able To Wing It

Alongside radio, Janey has also worked in live television, including on the former ITV show Sunday Brunch (confusingly not the same show as its Channel 4 counterpart). It was here that she learnt about the perils of live broadcasting the hard way. On one occasion, Janey was due to interview a vicar about prayer.

The team had been out with him the day before, as they did with all guests to make them feel more comfortable. “He knew his stuff, he was very friendly, we had a chat, and we outlined the kinds of questions that I’d probably ask him, and he seemed completely cool,” she remembers.

But when they went on air, Janey says: “I glanced over to him, and I could see that he was as white as a sheet, and he looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights. I asked him the first question, but I could see, even as I asked, that he had frozen.” Extending the question, Janey adds, did nothing. “The guys in the gallery had obviously realised it as well, and so they said in my earpiece: ‘The guest is frozen, just vamp [improvise]’.”

Janey Lee Grace with former BBC Radio 2 co-hosts Steve Wright (L) and Tim Smith (R).

Surely one can only vamp for so long? What was the plan of action for frozen guests? “Somehow, I managed to witter about something, and I sent my best healing vibes to him across the set. Then, amazingly, I saw him soften a little bit, and I asked him — I can’t remember what the question was — but it was something so innocuous, he couldn’t not have answered, practically: ‘What’s your name?’”

Those innocuous questions, Janey recalls, helped break the spell, and the vicar started to speak. She adds: “It was such a big lesson for me because it helped me realise you can never rely on a guest to answer the question or even rely on the guest to speak. You always need more up your sleeve.”

Janey now uses those experiences to inform the media training she delivers to interviewers and interviewees. “What really needed to have happened for him is that he needed to have known what his key messages were — backwards, forwards, and sideways — so that even if he was nervous, something would come out of his mouth,” she says.

She adds: “It was such a big lesson for me, because it helped me realise you can never rely on a guest to answer the question or even rely on the guest to speak. You always need more up your sleeve.”

But, what makes an interview memorable, when you’ve interviewed everyone from vicars to popstars, health experts to chefs? Interviews she recalls particularly fondly, she says, are the ones where she was personally a fan — including Eddie Izzard and Chris Martin — or those she was surprised by and “wasn’t necessarily expecting to love”. For example, Janey recalls how much she enjoyed and resonated with author and speaker Ken Robinson, who delivered the renowned Ted Talk on why schools kill creativity.

Did Janey approach interviews differently when she was a fan? “I was always a massive fan of Eddie, and I always used to think, oh, my God, I don’t know if I want to meet them because if I do, I might not feel the same way.” When Janey did eventually get to meet Eddie (the previous two times she had been on maternity leave for two separate children), she says: “I was so nervous, I thought I’ve got to pull this out the bag and be professional.”

So, what’s Janey’s best advice for asking good interview questions? “It really is: what does the reader or listener want to know? If you are in a pub or cafe and you say you’re interviewing the Prime Minister, for example, what is one question people would want the answer to?” she says.

What Next?

While Janey is still busy doing health radio shows, writing, coaching, and even coaching coaches, she says she would still love to do another mainstream radio show one day. She also says there’s also a novel sitting unfinished in her drawer, which she must return to, and she adds that she would love to be in another pantomime, particularly because COVID cancelled the last one she was due to perform in.

Whatever it is, Janey adds: “I’m open to any fabulous offers. Send them my way.”

Janey Lee Grace’s new memoir From Wham! to Woo: A Life on the Mic, is published by McNidder & Grace and available now via Amazon. 

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Header image courtesy of Janey Lee Grace.