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BBC Radio 1 announces major schedule changes

BBC Scott Mills and Maya JamaBBC
Scott Mills and Maya Jama will host shows on Fridays as part of the new weekend schedule

BBC Radio 1 has announced a major overhaul of its line-up, with the weekend schedule now starting on Fridays.

Nick Grimshaw, Clara Amfo and Greg James will go down to hosting four shows a week as a result.

New Friday shows have been announced for Maya Jama and The Saturdays' Mollie King as part of the changes, and Scott Mills will now host the chart show.

Dev and Alice Levine will present the breakfast show from Friday to Sunday.

Ben Cooper, controller of BBC Radio 1, said: "The weekend will start here at Radio 1 on a Friday morning giving our young audience that feel-good factor a day early.

"It's our job at Radio 1 to reinvent the way young people listen to the radio, to disrupt traditional thinking and to look for new ways in which to grow audiences."

The new schedule comes into effect in June.

It's unclear how the schedule changes might affect the daytime hosts' current salaries, but a BBC spokesman said all presenters on the station are paid fairly.

Mollie King and Matt Edmondson
Mollie King and Matt Edmondson will host the 13:00-16:00 slot over the weekend

The changes include:

  • The weekday line-up will now only last Monday to Thursday
  • That means Nick Grimshaw, Clara Amfo and Greg James will no longer host programmes on Fridays
  • Dev and Alice Levine will present the breakfast show from 06:30-10:00, Friday to Sunday
  • Mollie King will co-host a new show with Matt Edmondson from Friday to Sunday, 13:00-16:00 - her first ever permanent show on the station
  • Scott Mills will take over from Greg James as the presenter of The Official Chart show on Fridays

This marks the first time in Radio 1's history that the daytime DJs will be on a four-day week, although Chris Evans once tried to take Fridays off when he was hosting the breakfast show.

In the late 1990s, he famously asked if he could host the programme only from Monday to Thursday - a request which was denied by then-controller Matthew Bannister.

Getty Images Greg James, Nick Grimshaw and Clara AmfoGetty Images
Greg James, Nick Grimshaw and Clara Amfo all go down to four shows a week

Jama joined the station earlier this year as the presenter of Radio 1's Greatest Hits.

King has been appearing as a guest presenter with Edmondson in recent weeks but will now officially be a permanent fixture on the station.

The singer, who appeared on the most recent series of Strictly Come Dancing, said: "I've grown up listening to Radio 1 and I can't wait to be one of the team.

"This is an absolute dream for me! The only person more excited than me is my mum - who is delighted I finally have a proper job."

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She added: "I've had so much fun working with Matt over the past few weeks, and I'm so glad I'm no longer just 'Mollie from the Saturdays' but 'Mollie from the Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays'."

Scott Mills said: "I was sat with my mum when I got this news, and she actually cried because I've been pretending to do the chart show on Radio 1 since I was 8 years old.

"I've filled in on the show so much over the years, and I can't believe it's actually mine. I'm beyond excited."

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Radio 1's new Friday schedule

Getty / BBC Alice Levine and DevGetty / BBC

06:30-10:00 - Radio 1's Weekend Breakfast with Dev and Alice

10:00-13:00 - Radio 1's Greatest Hits with Maya Jama

13:00-16:00 - Matt Edmondson and Mollie King

16:00-19:00 - The Official Chart with Scott Mills

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