Greg James has revealed that his name isn’t actually Greg James and he changed it when he first got started in the industry.
Greg, 38, appeared on Kathy Burke’s Where There’s A Will, There’s A Wake podcast, and revealed that his name is actually a stage name
The BBC Radio 1 presenter explained that he’s actually called Greg Milward.
‘I’m writing a book. It’s my first non-fiction adult book,’ he began. ‘It’s gonna come out next year, and I was writing a chapter on my name.
‘It’s turned into a bit of a secret, but it’s not a secret at all. In that Greg James is not my full name.’
He explained that he felt his name is too much like a ‘teacher’ so opted to use his middle name instead.
‘I was looking around at like Sara Cox, Scott Mills. So my full name, my surname is Milward. It’s like a teacher’s name. It’s like a headteacher’s name. Greg Milward.
‘My dad was a headteacher and I was like, “Well, it’s probably not that cool. I don’t really like it that much”. So I chose Greg James.’
The radio host revealed he had some regrets as he wish he’d thought it through a bit more before it became popular.
‘My regret is that I should have thought it through because by the time Radio 1 had sort of spotted me; I’d won this award basically, and Radio 1 were in touch, and before I knew it, I was doing a tryout show for them, and Greg James appeared in the Radio Times, in the listings, and I was like, “it’s too late, I can’t change it now”.
‘And then it just went on and on and on, and I can’t change it back now, I can’t do anything about it.
He concluded: ‘I don’t mind it. It’s an okay radio name, but, I should have been more imaginative.’
Elsewhere in the interview, he revealed that his first DJ gig for Radio 1 was in a nightclub in Wolverhampton and the flyers misprinted his name as Greg Davis.
He joked that it ‘kept him humble’ and has been mixed up with other Gregs in the past including comedian Greg Davies and chef Gregg Wallace.
In the interview, he also texted Rylan Clark to ask if he’d carry his coffin if he died – to which Rylan replied: ‘Yes and I’d wear a gorgeous outfit.’
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