by During a recent DJ gig in Grimsby, Jo Whiley collapsed on stage. Despite years of presenting, this was the first time she had ever taken a dive in front of an audience. It could be mortifying. But the 58-year-old star has enough experience of live shows to know how to handle such hiccups.
“It was actually funny,” she says. “All you have to do is go, ‘Oh my God’. It’s much nicer to see someone being honest and vulnerable than trying to hide anything.”
Perhaps it is this approach that helps explain the enduring appeal of the veteran broadcaster, whose radio voice has been affirmed by several generations of listeners who grew up with him. From 1993 to 2011, her career spanned BBC Radio 1 daytime Britpop and beyond. She later moved to BBC Radio 2, where she continues to present today.
Then there are the gigs, where she plays nineties songs to crowds across the country, from late 50s music fans “who went through Britpop and all the festivals,” to the kids of music fans, who show up with their parents.
Having fronted the BBC’s Glastonbury coverage since 1997, Whiley is the thread that connects us to a pre-internet era of music, making her listeners nostalgic (“those [Nineties] songs stand the test of time”) while maintaining her status as a pop culture deity.
So how does the mother of four keep herself fit and healthy for such a demanding job? “I never get enough sleep.” But the audience failed to notice that she doesn’t seem to age. What, then, are their secrets?
I’m not the greatest cook but I’m trying to eat better
Whiley is a vegetarian, but she’s the first to admit she’s not the best cook. However, she “really wants to eat much better,” she explains as we chat. “We went to Thailand over Christmas because my father-in-law lives there, and I discovered that I was eating so much sugar. It’s very sweet food there, and I have arthritis in my fingers and hands, and every morning I would wake up and my fingers would be like balloons.”
On her return home, she decided to give up sugar, take vitamins and watch her diet. Since January, she has been trying to eat more vegetables, nuts and pulses and cut out sweet foods. “It’s hard!” she exclaims. “You’re sure to have a lot of fun in the middle of the afternoon.”
She and her husband Steve Morton, a music executive, also undergo health examinations. During one of these, Morton discovered that he had high cholesterol, despite being “very fit and healthy”. Preferring to avoid medication, he focused on his diet and eats Benecol yogurt to lower it.
My closest friends were dying of mental health
The Thailand trip wasn’t the only thing that sparked Whiley’s health kick. In recent years, she has lost several close friends. “All our big players that we used to hang out with have passed away. So we have to host the party because the kids of all the people who died are coming to our place. That’s a real downer but it’s the actual truth.”
It happened alarmingly quickly: in 2021, her friend Simon Willis, a BBC radio producer, died of a brain tumour; Another friend died of Covid and a third died of cancer, around the same time.
“They’re the ones we used to go out with and do a lot of fun things with, so all of a sudden you’re like ‘what do we do now?'” says Whiley.
“Honestly, it was a ridiculous step to have everyone go in such a short amount of time.”
It was extremely difficult to process those losses. Whiley said: “You have your routine, ‘it’s Friday night and everyone’s probably going to come around.’ And you’re just waiting, looking at the door, going, ‘oh no, he’s not coming around, he’s not dead, he’s not coming around anymore’. So you have to fill your time… you still miss them like crazy but you have to work hard to change your life to fill the huge holes they have left. It’s been a very tough two or three years, in that regard.”
Another recent loss is fellow Radio 2 DJ Steve Wright, who died last month aged 69. “It was a big deal for everyone. The tidal wave of love and gratitude for him was overwhelming.”
The death of her friends has made her determined to do everything she can to stay fit and healthy herself. “I think that’s why the change in diet and exercise routines happened.”
I was feeling a little weak so I started doing weights
A few years ago, Whiley felt she was getting “a bit weak”, so he started lifting weights. She sees a personal trainer who prepares her for festivals, helping her tackle work on her arms and plenty of crunches. A keen swimmer, she is in the water three or four times a week, and goes running with Morton a few times a week. “I love being fit. I find it really helps my head and body. I feel stronger.”
Whiley says she’s not a natural runner – “I’m one of those people who runs around going, ‘I hate running'” – but she has no trouble doing a 5K and wants to “do another half marathon” to give her something to aim for.
Preparing for a concert requires her own routine, including pre-show stretches and, if possible, swimming, to sharpen her up. “When I first started [the gigs], I really hurt after the shows and I learned that I had to get fitter and be more flexible. My shoulder and neck suffered a lot the next day.”
She compares being on stage to doing a Jane Fonda workout. “For 90 minutes I’m jumping up and down the whole time with my hands in the air.”
Despite never drinking while DJing (“I’m too worried I’ll push the wrong button”), she still feels hungover afterwards. “Because your head is moving,” she says. “I just woke up like ‘eugh’.”
The third vodka makes me feel terrible
Like many midwives, Whiley has seen her tolerance drop dramatically in recent years. “I can’t drink much,” she explains. “It doesn’t take much. I will absolutely have a few vodkas but no more than two. If I have a third I’ll be terrible the next day.”
When she and Morton throw a party at their home in Northamptonshire – a converted 18th-century barn surrounded by fields and farmland – she’s usually the one cleaning up the rubbish and the party is in full swing. “I’ll go into my bed and listen to it happen. It is so annoying. I only drink cider and vodka literally at the weekend and I know my limits.”
It feels “unfair” because “my tolerance was much better when I was younger,” she says. “But I had to tone it down…because my head feels terrible the next morning and I don’t like that feeling.”
The benefit of her declining drinking ability is that she has to be healthier. “I went through stages and I look at photos of myself [during that phase] now I can see the puffiness under my eyes,” she says. “There have been years when I look at my face and think ‘Oh my God, you’ve been drinking too much and you look very unhealthy’, and now I don’t get that.”
Gardening and swimming help me relax
Whiley has what many would consider a dream job, playing music for a living. But it’s harder than she makes it look. “It’s stressful,” she says. “There are things that worry me a lot. I get a lot of anxiety, so if there’s a big gig coming up I’ll be in a bad mood for a few days before because I’ll be anxious…No matter how many times you walk out on stage in front of people, yes it’s scary. It’s not a natural thing to do.”
While some are natural entertainers, she doesn’t class herself as one. “People are introverts, they have to be someone else [on stage]and I’m definitely in that category.”
To relax in her free time, Whiley loves gardening. On a typical weekend day, she’ll be swimming, going to breakfast, meeting her kids somewhere, trying to squeeze in some gardening and taking the dogs for a walk. Her eldest child, India, 31, lives in London, “so we go to see her”. Whiley and Morton are also parents to Jude, 25, Cassius, 22, and Coco, 15.
On Saturday nights, Whiley waits until 6.30pm or 7pm before drinking. “Then I’ll be like, ‘okay, drink time,’ then eat and watch TV, unless we’re having a party at the house…We don’t get invited to other people’s parties so we wear our their own. “
Not using sun care has come back to worry me
Emerging from a spell at Glastonbury with her glow intact is no small feat, as any festivalgoer will attest. Whiley has regular facials and has perfected her skin care routine: cleansing with exfoliating balm in the morning and evening, adding serum, hyaluronic acid and moisturizer “to make sure I’m layering”. She also uses L’Oreal Age Perfect product to reduce age spots. “When you get to my age, that’s suddenly something and you struggle with ‘why didn’t I use sun protection?'” she says. “It will eventually come back to haunt you. So I’m trying to fight it right now.”
I’m more into fashion as I’ve gotten older
Like his presentation style – warm, unflappable, with just the right amount of enthusiasm mixed with understated authority – Whiley’s signature rock look is very endearing. “I love boutiques”, she reveals, revealing that there are certain places she will call or message to see if they have anything. Favorites include The Mercantile London and 32 The Guild in Northampton.
“I’ve gotten more and more into fashion as I’ve gotten older,” she explains. “But I also know what suits me and I will adapt everything, in the end, to a pair of jeans and what else goes with that.”
Like any working mother there is a juggle involved
Whiley’s day (and night) job is not comparable to most people’s. But, like any working mother, there is a juggle involved. “I think I’m like everyone else, I just mess around, doing what I have to do and trying to be safe while doing it,” she says. “I’ll go through times when I’ve done a lot of work, and I’m very quick. But my family is so important to me and my friends are very important, so I will always try to see them as much as possible… it’s very important to be able to talk to my friends.”
As tiring as her work can be, she can’t imagine doing anything else. “I love doing it,” says Whiley. “I had a great career. I’m very lucky to be doing what I’m doing and I don’t particularly want it to stop.
Jo Whiley is supporting the Benecol Every Heart Deserves One campaign.
