We arrive at Heart FM a little after 8am, and the duo at the controls have already been on air for more than two hours.
Fuelled by a genuine love for their job (with just a little supportive buzz from caffeine and bananas), the decidedly beautiful, high-tech studio in the heart of Milton Keynes is manned by Stuart Miles and Katy Hill.
It’s Blue Peter reunited.
Except that these days, Katy and Stuart steer clear of sticky-backed plastic, won’t be found parachuting out of a plane, and this studio is an animal free zone!
As the Four Counties Breakfast show team, Stuart and Katy are the duo responsible for getting MK folks out of bed, on the road and to work on time.
Producer Jon Wyer makes three in the studio, and their collective cheery disposition is infectious.
“It’s a nice position to be in really,” Jon – at work in between Katy and Stuart - says.
“What, a presenter sandwich?” Katy quips.
“Yeah, a presenter sandwhich between two people who used to be on your TV in your childhood...”
“You can see the exciting things happen, so you feel the lovely buzz of the radio, but the pressure of delivering it, or fluffing it, isn’t there.
“It’s nice to be close to the action, but not on the frontline. And it's really varied," Jon says.
"Some people are naturally good producers, and Jon is," says Stuart, "He understands everything about radio. I sort of understand the technicals, but not like Jon understands it. When Jon is in the room, we feel safe," he admits.
"If I want to ask a question about anything, Jon has pretty much got the answer. If he doesn't know, he makes it up and I still believe him!"
“It is nice because the three of us really get on, and that really matters. When you come into work at 10 past five in the morning, with the best will in the world you are not at your best straight away, so you need to be with people you like and trust.”
Stuart has been in the role for five years now (“but I am obviously stored in Tupperware because I am still fresh!” he smiles), but Katy is new to this position.
Her sunny demeanour and the duo’s firm friendship and easy chemistry is proving a real winner with listeners.
It’s a friendship that began as soon as Katy joined Stuart to front that prime time children’s television show.
“We clicked straight away,” Katy recalls,
“I was a little country girl thrown in at the deep end.
"I was 24, but it was a big change – I was working at the BBC as a secretary. I finished there on the Tuesday, packed my bags that night, and on the Wednesday morning a car picked me up to take me to Heathrow to go to Johannesburg filming for a month...I loved every moment, but it was scary...I think that’s why we bonded so quickly, don’t you Stu?”
He nods: “And they really throw you in, it’s like a baptism of fire to show you can survive it. There is no recipe for these things either, we just clicked. “We used to get the giggles quite badly and get into a lot of trouble.
"It hasn’t happened on air yet, but it nearly happened the other day.”
Besides, in this kind of environment, it would be difficult to hide any frictions. Listeners are a perceptive bunch, so it's lucky this duo are a great radio fit.
“I think because Stuart and I are both confident in our own skin, and in our own abilities, it’s not a struggle.
“If there’s an unequal pairing the underdog feels like they are constantly trying to prove themselves, and that’s awful.”
Watching them at work, keeping those same listeners versed in weather, travel news, gossip, and with a soundtrack that has a whole lot of science behind it, you might be forgiven for thinking this job is a breeze. Save for those early starts of course.
But therein lies the proof of their skill set – they make it look easy.
Both travel in to the station each day – from Oxfordshire and close to London, but don’t be fooled into thinking there is a lack of connection here.
They know their patch – all four counties of it.
And Katy juggles her radio schedule with television work, a successful blogging site ( www.katyhillsblog.com ) and being mum to two children: “The other day I got home and did a blog, then a Tesco thing, then I washed my car and made a carrot cake with the kids.
“I was on fire!” she smiled.
Katy also knows her way around our shopping centres.
Post-show, she does like to fit in a little visit when time allows: “The shops are a bit too temptingly close,” she grins, “..and New Look is amazing.
“But when the show finishes there is prep work for the next day to get done – I’m not quite skipping to the shops every day!”
Heart Breakfast with Stuart and Katy is live every weekday between 6am and 10am on 96-104FM and at heartfm.co.uk
Words: Sammy Jones
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