James Whale, the prominent broadcaster and radio personality, has died at the age of 74 after a battle with cancer, his agent confirmed Monday.
Whale’s career spanned six decades, including work with the BBC, LBC, and TalkSport.
In a statement, his wife Nadine Lamont-Brown shared, “It is with deep sadness that I announce the passing of my darling husband, James Whale, who died peacefully this morning with a smile on his face, holding my hand.”
Known for his outspoken and often controversial style, Whale more recently hosted his own podcast and a weekly night-time radio show on TalkRadio.
TalkTV colleague and friend Mike Graham delivered an on-air obituary, paying tribute to Whale, who had been diagnosed with stage four kidney cancer. Graham also posted on X: “What a remarkable man. What an extraordinary talent. What an incredible voice. The world is a lesser place today…RIP James.”
TalkTV’s official X account recognized Whale as “a broadcasting legend for over 50 years,” adding that he would “be missed by so many” at the network.
Fellow broadcaster Piers Morgan shared on X, “One of Britain’s all-time great radio talk show hosts and a fantastic bloke.”
Whale was initially diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2000. In 2020, he revealed the cancer’s return.
In recent months, he openly shared his declining health on social media, his Talk TV program, and his podcast, Tales of the Whales.
He first rose to prominence in the 1980s as the host of The James Whale Radio Show on Radio Aire in Leeds, before helming a late-night radio show on TalkSport in the mid-to-late 1990s.
When TV stations first began broadcasting after midnight in the late 1980s, Whale seized the opportunity to create a live, late-night show unlike anything seen before on British television.
On The James Whale Radio Show, he combined elements of a shock jock, talk show host, gonzo reporter, and working men’s club MC.
Launched in 1988, Whale’s live, often chaotic program resembled a daytime TV format gone rogue, shedding inhibitions and disregarding conventional standards of taste and decency.
While some criticized its perceived lack of morals, many viewers found it captivating.
Whale engaged with callers, often abruptly cutting them off, sparred with celebrities and expert guests, and offered provocative takes on topics ranging from immigration to teenage gambling and sex therapy.
The show simultaneously entertained and offended.
The James Whale Radio Show included “Radio” in its title because it was broadcast live from Leeds on both Radio Aire and ITV simultaneously at 1 a.m. on Friday nights.
Initially limited to Yorkshire and the north-west, its popularity led to wider adoption as ratings soared.
When it debuted on London Weekend Television in April 1989, it garnered significant press attention.
A review in The Stage newspaper noted that Whale had faced “critical hammering” since joining the ITV network.
However, the reviewer argued that, given the late broadcast time, complaints about the show’s “crudities, ruderies, or the occasional swear word” were unwarranted.
The reviewer deemed Whale “the liveliest natural new personality to turn up on TV for ages”, praising his “surfeit of punch and charisma.”
The Surrey-born Whale had been a presenter on Radio Aire since 1982, following stints at stations in Middlesbrough, Derby, and Newcastle.
At Newcastle’s Metro Radio from 1973 to 1980, he established a format for phone-ins known for their directness.
Prior to that, Whale’s first role in broadcasting was founding a radio station within Top Shop on London’s Oxford Circus in 1970, marking the country’s first in-store station.
The 1970s and 1980s were a golden age for larger-than-life radio DJs, and Whale’s time at Radio Aire earned him the Sony Radio Award for local DJ of the year in 1988.
His move to television that year cemented his national reputation, for better or worse.
As one comedy duo who appeared on The James Whale Radio Show quipped, the program was known for its “controversy, filth and degradation – and that’s just behind the scenes.”
The show featured regular appearances from comedians like Bernard Manning, Steve Coogan, and Charlie Chuck, while Whale famously ejected singers Wayne Hussey and Lemmy for being intoxicated.
Whale once stormed off his own show due to backstage frustrations, but he also embraced the chaos and navigated the show with aplomb.
The James Whale Radio Show ran until 1992, and he maintained a similar style in another late-night format, Whale On, from 1993 to 1995.
However, it faced competition from trendier shows like The Word, and Whale’s risqué persona seemed less cutting-edge.
In 1995, Whale returned to radio with an opinionated late-night phone-in on Talk Radio.
He made headlines two years later when it was revealed that a female listener who invited him for “coffee” on air was his lover. Whale’s wife of nearly 30 years, Melinda, remained with him.
Whale was one of the few non-sports presenters to stay when the station rebranded as TalkSport in 2000. However, he was fired eight years later for urging listeners to vote for Boris Johnson in the London mayoral election.
Regulator Ofcom deemed it a breach of impartiality rules and fined the station £20,000.
Whale expressed interest in working for Johnson, stating, “Ken Livingstone had 70 media advisers. Boris Johnson only needs me. I’m ideal. I know what the ordinary man or woman on the street thinks.”
Johnson did not accept the offer.
After hosting an afternoon weekend show on LBC in the 1990s, Whale returned as a drivetime host the same year, despite previously calling the station’s program director a “pillock prize-prat and a half.”
Also in 2000, Whale was first diagnosed with cancer when a large tumor was found in his kidney.
The kidney and tumor were successfully removed. For the next few years, he and Melinda decided to embrace life.
“Those were my hedonistic years – I ate as much steak as I wanted and drank copious amounts of wine,” he said. “Every weekend, we flew off to a destination we’d never seen. We ran up huge bills. I didn’t care.”
He also established the James Whale Fund for Kidney Cancer in 2006 to raise awareness, which later merged with Kidney Cancer UK.
Whale remained at LBC for five years before hosting the BBC Essex breakfast show for three years and launching an online version of The James Whale Radio Show.
In 2016, he participated in the 18th series of Celebrity Big Brother, becoming the sixth housemate evicted.
Three months later, he returned to TalkRadio but was suspended in 2018 after an interview with author and journalist Nichi Hodgson about her rape.
In a video clip, Whale appeared to mouth the words “orally raped,” shake his head, and laugh as Hodgson described the assault.
Hodgson wrote in The Guardian that what began as a typically strident exchange between her and a journalist known for his belligerent presenting style became a merciless exercise in how not to interview someone who has experienced a sexual assault.
TalkRadio acknowledged the interview “completely lacked sensitivity,” but Whale ultimately retained his position.
In 2018, his wife Melinda died of lung cancer. Two years later, he took a break from broadcasting because his cancer had spread to his remaining kidney, spine, brain, and lungs.
He recovered sufficiently to marry Nadine Lamont-Brown in 2021. They had connected at their local pub in Kent, discovering that their spouses were being treated by the same doctor.
In 2024, Whale was appointed MBE for services to broadcasting and charity. He continued to host a weekly radio and TV show on Talk.
He maintained his fiery opinions and ability to provoke outrage, causing controversy by suggesting the “Navy should be out there pointing weaponry” at migrants in small boats and clashing with pro-Palestinian guests over the Israel-Gaza conflict.
He conducted his final interview with his “good friend and political hero”, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, in his garden in mid-July.
Whale also wrote a weekly column for the Daily Express, which on July 27 featured a series of tributes from friends and former colleagues.
Businessman Theo Paphitis hailed his charity work for Kidney Cancer UK, noting that “they broke the mould when they made James, and there’s a good reason that he has lasted decades as a broadcaster on the airwaves.”
Actor Shane Richie said “Love him or loathe him there’s been no denying that the Whale was and will always be regarded as a one-off unique broadcaster.
“In the eighties, James moved the goalposts when it came to live TV… his late-night Friday talk show was the stuff of legend and is still regarded as a show that moved the parameters of British television.”
Broadcaster Eamonn Holmes said “He made direct speech entertaining. With that he was ahead of his time. I’m just sorry he hasn’t had more time.”
Whale continued broadcasting as long as he could as the cancer worsened.
“I’ve spent much of my professional life winding people up about their stupidity, taking the wind out of their sails, and I can’t tell you how much I’m going to miss that,” he wrote in one of his last weekly columns for the Daily Express.
“It wasn’t always presidents and prime ministers and celebrities and leaders of industry – though they often got their comeuppances – sometimes, it was just normal folk who needed taking down a peg or two.
“But boy have I had some fun, and hopefully created some entertaining, engaging radio that has made people think a bit harder.”
The site of a transmission station that broadcasted across the globe is celebrating its centenary.
Keith Lea will be marking the milestone by presenting a six-hour show on Saturday, featuring music from each of his 60 years on air.
A century after it was opened, the BBC’s Daventry site is still playing a role in broadcasting.
The owner of the world’s first transmitter building says he is protecting it for the next 100 years.
DJ Day Day inspires next generation at Birmingham school music workshop.