Music

BBC Radio 1 to welcome station’s first non-binary presenter over Christmas for ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’


Jacob will be on our airwaves this Christmas (Picture: BBC, Jacob Edward, Instagram)

BBC Radio 1 are welcoming their first non-binary presenter to the station, as part of their ongoing plan to improve diversity.

Jacob Edward, from Manchester, is one of the 35 rising stars who will showcase their talents on Radio 1 this Christmas.

They will be spinning tracks and entertaining the nation from Boxing Day (26 December) until New Year’s Eve (30 November).

BBC Sounds and their podcasts have already featured nonbinary presenters in the past so it’ll be a first for Radio 1.

In a statement released to Forbes, Jacob said: ‘Since coming to terms with my identity and going on to work in the LGBT+ media, I realised just how underrepresented people like me actually are, they tell me.

‘Nonbinary identities are subject to such a lot of hate and misinformation in the mainstream media.

‘It’s likely a lot of young nonbinary and gender nonconforming young people will have to endure a lot of misgendering and erasure over the festive period, including from relatives.’

They continued: ‘So hearing someone on a radio station as big as Radio 1, not shy away from being honest about their identity and pronouns on air?

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5pusIDlF7g/

‘I hope that will validate them and let them know that they are incredible just the way they are! Growing up, if I had heard a nonbinary person on air it would have made MY LIFE! I hope to do that for somebody this Christmas.’

Radio 1 have described it as a ‘once in a lifetime opportunity to broadcast on the UK’s biggest youth radio station’.

Jacob has previously worked for DAB station Gaydio and was a producer for LGBT podcast #QueerAF alongside many other LGBTQ audio projects.

Activist Lucy Edwards will become Radio 1’s first blind presenter, while Laurie Charlesworth will become the first woman to host Radio 1’s Drum & Bass Show.



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