ATV Icon: James Whale

Continuing celebrating 70 years of ITV, the spotlight turns to James Whale…

James Whale, born 13 May 1951, is best-known as a radio personality with a penchant for a style that is outspoken and blunt – some would say just very honest. And in the late 1980s and 1990s James brought his “shock jock” style to ITV with a number of late-night shows.

Born in Ewell, Surrey, into what he described as “an ordinary middle class family” his father worked in the family’s garment manufacturing business and his mother was a professional ballet dancer. James did not enjoy school; after failing his eleven-plus exam, he attended local secondary modern schools in Epsom, Surrey. As a teenager he showed talent in archery – becoming a junior champion – but his real passion was to go into acting.

On his mother’s advice to get “a proper job,” he took a position as a trainee buyer at Harrods, where a chance encounter with a DJ sparked his interest in broadcasting. He learned DJing skills through a training scheme run by the Watney Mann brewery chain and landed his first gigs introducing records at pubs and clubs, including a stint as a disc jockey in Sweden.

James Whale / Radio Aire / YTV

In 1970, at age 19, James Whale began his broadcasting career at Radio Topshop, the in-store radio station for the retail chain in London. By 1974, he had moved north to Newcastle to host an evening phone-in show on Metro Radio, becoming the establishing presenter of the late-night Nightowls call-in show. Whale later worked at BBC Radio Derby, hosting a morning phone-in show in the early 1980s and later joined Radio Aire in Leeds.

During this period, he cultivated an irreverent, confrontational on-air persona while also indulging in humour, in 1987 he recorded “The Whaley Rap” song a novelty offering which were popular at the time.

By the mid-1980s, Whale had grown tired of conventional “lovely phone-in” formats and was increasingly influenced by American shock jocks like Howard Stern; Adopting a more controversial and unfiltered style, he soon found a wider audience.

In September 1988, The James Whale Radio Show began simulcasting on ITV and Radio Aire late-night show via Yorkshire Television in a post-midnight time slot. The format featured live studio guests, music, and unscreened listener calls – with Whale often giving callers and panellists brusque, no-nonsense treatment. The experiment was a success: within months, the show was picked up for national ITV broadcast, drawing over one million viewers by 1989.

James poses with his ‘Abusive Letters – Downright Disgusting’ bin flap / Radio Aire / YTV

The popularity of his late-night TV and radio show made James a nationally recognised figure. He continued to expand his ITV offering with a TV studio-based entertainment show Whale On (LWT/Mike Mansfield Productions) which had a live studio audience and offered up debate, expert advice, interviews and saucy moments (There was often a scantily clad female assistant). This was followed by The James Whale Show (LWT/Mike Mansfield Productions) which followed the same format as its predecessor.

He went on to present a risqué talk show segment titled The Blue Whale on the Men & Motors channel. During this era, Whale also dabbled in other media work such as bit parts in telly dramas and voiceover work. In 1995 he also made a return to the North East to host a weekly late-night chat show on Century Radio, a rival to his old Metro FM.

Also in 1995, he took his talk show talents to the newly launched national station Talk Radio UK. For the next 13 years, he hosted a nightly talk show on the network, airing in a late-night 10 pm–1 am slot. As one of the station’s prominent voices, he continued to be known for his confrontational exchanges and provocative opinions. His James Whale Show on Talk Radio/talkSPORT often featured celebrity guests and controversial topics, and he wasn’t afraid to challenge or belittle callers on air – traits that attracted a loyal audience but also frequently tested the bounds of broadcast regulations.

James Whale in the VT Centre / Yorkshire Television

One of Whale’s most infamous episodes came in 2008, during the lead-up to the London mayoral election. On air, he openly urged his listeners to vote for Tory candidate Boris Johnson – a direct breach of British broadcasting rules on political impartiality. The incident prompted swift backlash and he was fired from talkSPORT shortly thereafter. Britain’s media regulator Ofcom ruled that the programme had “seriously breached” due impartiality rules and talkSport was ultimately fined £20,000.

Immediately after leaving talkSPORT he launched an online radio show via his personal website and in May 2008 became a presenter on the satellite TV shopping channel Bid TV. By late 2008, he was back on the airwaves in London: Whale joined LBC.

Whale continued to reinvent himself across various media. He left his daily show at LBC in 2013 and went on to host programmes on several BBC local radio stations, including BBC Radio Berkshire, BBC Essex and BBC Three Counties Radio. James also launched The James Whale Radio Show podcast – a weekly podcast that ran for hundreds of episodes. He also made a foray into reality TV when in the summer of 2016, Whale became a housemate on Celebrity Big Brother (series 18), where he lasted several weeks and finished in ninth place upon eviction.

Whale’s outspoken style continued to find outlets. In 2016, he appeared as a panellist on ITV’s daytime magazine show This Morning (Granada) during a debate about the banning of “burkini” swimwear. His combative remarks in that segment were widely criticised by viewers as “disrespectful,” but by now everyone knew this was exactly how James would discuss such a subject and for the social media soundbite loving This Morning it got them the click attention they crave.

Up for debate, The James Whale Radio Show / Yorkshire Television

In late 2016, he returned to national talk radio by joining the newly relaunched talkRADIO station. He initially served as a fill-in host and then, starting in November 2016, hosted the evening show Monday through Thursday from 7–10 pm. In this role, he effectively came full circle to the late-night radio format that had made him famous on Metro Radio in the 70s.

A couple of years into his talkRADIO tenure, however, another controversy arose: in August 2018, he was suspended from the station after conducting an on-air interview with journalist Nichi Hodgson – a sexual assault survivor – in a manner that many found appallingly insensitive. He returned to air later in the month. The broadcaster noted James had ‘lacked sensitivity’ during the interview.

As of the late 2010s and into the 2020s, James Whale has remained active in both radio and television. He currently hosts an opinion-driven Talk TV and Talk Radio show, James Whale Unleashed, which is streamed visually online as well as over the traditional radio airwaves.

In this programme he once again has courted controversy. In February 2024, during a live James Whale Unleashed show he got into a furious argument with guest Steve Hedley (a former union official) over a discussion about Palestine. The exchange escalated to the point where Whale attempted to physically remove Hedley from the studio, Hedley accused Whale of trying to assault him as producers intervened, and the confrontation drew media attention once more.

James Whale / YTV

Off air, James Whale’s life has seen its own significant milestones and challenges. He married his first wife, Melinda Maxted, in 1970, and the couple had two sons together. In 1997, he made tabloid news when it was revealed that he had engaged in an 18-month affair with one of his radio show’s listeners – James and Melinda remained married for decades. In early 2018, he disclosed that Melinda had been diagnosed with stage-four lung cancer; sadly, she passed away in May 2018. On his 70th birthday in 2021, James announced his engagement to Nadine Lamont-Brown, and the two were married in October 2021.

Health issues have played a prominent role in his later life. In 2000, he was diagnosed with kidney cancer after noticing blood in his urine. He underwent surgery to remove a tumour from his kidney – an operation that he was told carried only a 50% chance of survival. Following his recovery, James became an advocate for cancer awareness: in 2006 he founded the James Whale Fund for Kidney Cancer, a charity aimed at funding research and supporting those affected by the disease.

Whale’s cancer would return in later years; in August 2020, he revealed that the disease had spread to his spine, brain, and lungs, meaning he is now living with terminal stage-four metastatic cancer. Despite these health battles, he has continued working and often speaks openly about his experiences. He has also been candid about having dyslexia and he serves as a patron of the National Literacy Association to support others with literacy challenges.

In recognition of his contributions to broadcasting and charity, James Whale was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2024 New Year Honours. This honour – coming over fifty years after his radio debut – underscores the impact and longevity of his career. Love him or loathe him, James Whale has established himself as a distinctive voice in British media, known equally for his pioneering late-night talk shows and the controversies that have punctuated his life in the public eye.

James Whale on the Whale On set / MMP/Time Talent