Claire Annette Sturgess (born 15 September 1966) is an English DJ and voiceover artist.

Early life

She was born in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, where she grew up. She attended Avon Valley College in

Durrington, Wiltshire Durrington is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village lies about north of the town of Amesbury, north-northeast of the city of Salisbury, and northeast of the Stonehenge monument. It is on the eastern part of Salisbury ...

Career

BBC Radio 1

She was a presenter on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

from 1993, after working as a production assistant on the

Simon Bates Simon Philip Bates (born 17 December 1946) is an English disc jockey and radio presenter. Between 1976 and 1993 he worked at BBC Radio 1, presenting the station's weekday mid-morning show for most of this period. He later became a regular pres ...

mid-morning show. Firstly, she sat in for

Mark Goodier Mark Goodier (born 9 June 1961) is a British radio disc jockey best known for his time on BBC Radio 1 between 1987 and 2002. He had two spells presenting the station's Top 40 singles chart, from 1990 to 1992 and from 1995 until 2002. He also h ...

for one week in February 1993 before taking over the ''

Friday Rock Show The ''Friday Rock Show'' was a radio show in the United Kingdom that was broadcast on BBC Radio 1 from 10pm to midnight on Friday nights, from 17 November 1978 until 2 April 1993. For most of its existence, it was hosted by Tommy Vance. Vance ...

'' from

Tommy Vance Richard Anthony Crispian Francis Prew Hope-Weston (11 July 1940 – 6 March 2005), known professionally as Tommy Vance, was an English radio broadcaster. He was an important factor in the rise of the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM), al ...

in April that year as well as the 1-4 AM overnight slot on Sunday nights/Monday mornings. Following

Dave Lee Travis David Patrick Griffin (born 25 May 1945), known professionally as Dave Lee Travis, is an English disc jockey, radio presenter and television presenter. Travis began his broadcasting career on the pirate radio station Radio Caroline in 1965. He ...

's departure in August 1993, she took over the Saturday mid-morning show, (with

Nicky Campbell Nicholas Andrew Argyll Campbell, OBE (born Nicholas Lackey, 10 April 1961) is a Scottish broadcaster and journalist. He has worked in television and radio since 1981 and as a network presenter with BBC Radio since 1987. Early life Campbell wa ...

presenting the show on Sundays).

Danny Baker Danny Baker (born 22 June 1957) is an English comedy writer, journalist, radio DJ and screenwriter. Throughout his career he has largely presented for London's regional radio and television. Baker was born in Deptford to a working-class fam ...

took the show in October 1993. Her ''Rock Show'' moved to Sunday afternoon in October 1993, following the restructuring of the station by new controller

Matthew Bannister Richard Matthew Bannister (born 16 March 1957) is a British media executive and broadcaster. Early career After attending King Edward VII School, Sheffield, he graduated in law at the University of Nottingham in 1978, and joined BBC Radio Not ...

, but it then moved to Sunday Evening just 7 months later in May 1994. She was added to the presenting roster of BBC television music programme ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'' in September 1994 but presented only two episodes before being replaced by

Lisa I'Anson Lisa I'Anson (born 31 May 1965) is a British radio presenter, television presenter, and VJ. Career I'Anson first started as a broadcaster on the then pirate radio station Kiss FM, and through to its legal licence, presenting the magazine sho ...

. Sturgess moved to the weekday overnight slot in 1996 and remained there until leaving

Radio 1 Radio 1 or Radio One most commonly refers to: *BBC Radio 1, a music radio station from the BBC ** BBC Radio 1Xtra, a digital radio station broadcasting black music *CBC Radio One, a talk radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporatio ...

in July 1997.

XFM

She joined London's

Xfm Radio X is a British National commercial radio station focused on alternative music, primarily indie rock, and owned by Global. Radio X launched in 1989 as a pirate radio station, a licensed London-wide station in 1997 and nationally in 2015 ...

when it launched as a full-time station in September 1997 and left in 2007. As well as hosting her own evening show, she filled in for

Karl Pilkington Karl Pilkington (born 23 September 1972) is an English presenter, comedian, actor, voice-artist, producer and author. After working with Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as producer on their XFM radio show, Pilkington became a co-host of '' ...

Ricky Gervais Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms ''The Office'' (2001–2003), '' Extras'' (2005–2007), and '' An Idiot Abroad' ...

and

Stephen Merchant Stephen James Merchant (born 24 November 1974) is an English comedian, actor, director, presenter and writer. Alongside Ricky Gervais, Merchant was the co-writer and co-director of the British TV comedy series ''The Office'' (2001–2003), and ...

's XFM radio show.

NME Radio

In June 2008, she joined the line-up of the new

NME Radio NME Radio is a radio station operated under ''NME'' magazine branding, that broadcast an alternative music format. It first began broadcasting on 24 June 2008 and ceased on 25 March 2013. The station was then revived in 2018 on NME's website. Ther ...

, presenting the breakfast show and her Saturday afternoon show. She is also a continuity announcer for

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

and

Sky Movies Sky Cinema is a British subscription film service owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). In the United Kingdom, Sky Cinema channels currently broadcast on the Sky satellite and Virgin Media cable platforms, and in addition Sky Cinema ...

Absolute Radio

In 2015 Claire Sturgess joined

Absolute Radio Absolute Radio is a British National radio station owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Absolute Radio Network. It broadcasts nationally across the UK via Digital audio broadcasting and on 1215 kHz MW. History 1993–1997: Virg ...

, taking the 4-6 pm slots on both Saturdays and Sundays, the latter being a request show. She now presents Fridays 7-10 pm (Absolute '80s Greatest Hits), Saturdays 7-10pm (Classic Rock Party) and Sundays 6pm-8pm (Absolute Radio Request Show). She also presents weekdays 10 am-1 pm on Absolute Classic Rock.

References

External links

*
Classic Rock Mornings on Absolute Classic Rock

Friday Night 80s Greatest Hits on Absolute Radio

Friday Night 80s Greatest Hits on Absolute 80s

Classic Rock Party on Absolute Radio

The Classic Rock Party on Absolute Classic Rock

Absolute Radio Request Show on Absolute Radio
1966 births Absolute Radio British radio DJs British radio personalities People from Salisbury Living people {{UK-radio-bio-stub