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Rickie Haywood-Williams, 42, has become one of BBC Radio’s most recognisable faces after originally shooting to fame alongside co-star Melvin Odoom and Charlie Hedges on Kiss FM. The DJ and presenter has looked back on his beginnings on the radio alongside Melvin, who he now considers a “family member” rather than a friend.
Rickie revealed that, at the beginning, he and Melvin only had a “silly” showreel to show for their work.
However, that was more than enough for the programme’s director at Kiss FM, who soon got in touch to see the pair at the studio for an audition.
Rickie recounted: “I remember I had a showreel I put out with my friend Melvin Odoom, who I present my radio show with – long time friend, he’s like a family member.
“And we put a showreel out and it was really stupid, really silly…
“And we put it out on social media and it got picked up by a programme director at Kiss FM, and he contacted our agent and said, ‘I’d love to get you guys to come down and do an audition’.”
Rickie also reflected on the way the future started shaping up for them as radio staples, something he described as a “crazy journey”.
“That was a moment where we were like, ‘What is actually happening right now?’
“And then being asked to do the breakfast show on Kiss after about less than a year of being on the radio station.
“These are all milestones that, every single time that something like that happens you wonder like, ‘Wow, this is a mad, crazy journey that we’re on.’
“There were many, many points in my career where I just thought to myself, ‘Wow, I can’t actually believe this is happening.’”
Rickie and Melvin’s friendship first started at university, with the pair going on to present Kiss FM’s breakfast show alongside Charlie Hedges for over 10 years.
The trio then made a move to Radio 1, taking over Charlie Sloth’s late evening show.
Rickie and Melvin have also worked together on MTV, BBC Three, Channel 4 and even presented MTV One’s coverage of the BRIT Awards in 2010.
Speaking to Express.co.uk last year, Rickie confessed working with his close pal can be “too much” at times.
He said: “Me and Mel are more like family than friends, we’ve known each other for so long.
“We met at university when we were 19, we’ve lived together, went to lectures together and seminars and even holidays.
“Our mums know each other and spend Christmas together normally when times are normal and birthdays. We’re like cousins or brothers.”
He continued: “So anytime we get to not work together, we always jump at the opportunity because we’re together all the time, pretty much every single day. And if it’s not the radio, we’re DJing at the weekend, or there’s a social gathering.
“Anytime we do get to work alone we tend to jump at the opportunity because it can get too much sometimes.
“Not in a bad way, it’s just nice to walk off and do other things sometimes.”
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