BBC Radio 2 presenter Jo Whiley has said rappers Eminem and Dr Dre made her feel “tiny and stupid” during an interview.
The 60-year-old presenter joined the BBC in the spring of 1993, aged 28, and has interviewed a huge host of star musicians, including Barbra Streisand, Noel Gallagher and David Bowie.
Speaking to Zoe Ball on their Dig It podcast, Whiley said that her professional confidence took a major blow after the “horrible” interaction with the rappers.
“I’d interviewed Eminem when he was very young and he was very shy and polite,” she said. “He kept calling me ‘ma’am’ all the time and he was really, really sweet and humble.”
The broadcaster continued: “Then a couple of years later he came back on the show but with Dr Dre and the fame had happened and he was just this other creature altogether.”
Whiley said the interview had been “a really unpleasant experience” as the duo’s “playful” approach to the conversation had left her feeling “so tiny and so stupid”.
The broadcaster has enjoyed a lengthy career at the BBC, hosting her eponymous Jo Whiley Show on Radio 1 from 2001 to 2011 before transferring to Radio 2 when it ceased to air.
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Last year, Whiley told Women’s Health that, despite her career success, she experienced intense anxiety in the early days of her DJ career.
“I remember doing one gig and I was just so scared, I thought I can’t go on like this. This is ridiculous,” she said. “It’s ruining my life because I’m just such a ball of anxiety.
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“But then I realised how happy it was making people when I do these gigs and that was a game changer.”
Whiley is also the main presenter for the BBC’s Glastonbury coverage. Ahead of last year’s festival, Whiley made clear she wasn’t going to stop attending the event, regardless of how old she is.
Speaking to The Times, Whiley said, “It’s fantastic being on stage, not apologising for the age I am, and seeing loads of women the same age in the audience.”
The presenter added she had “no intention of disappearing” because “people think I should be embarrassed”.
“I’m not embarrassed at all,” she said. “I still feel 27. The essence of us doesn’t change at all.”
