Darren Andrew James (born 7 December 1960) is a long-established Australian radio broadcaster on

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

radio station 3AW where he first started working in October 1979. He is also an MC and hosts corporate and public events.

Career

Darren James's radio career began in October 1979, when he started as an 'office boy' at 3AW. In that year he moved to a role as an audio engineer for 'Breakfast' and 'The

Derryn Hinch Derryn Nigel Hinch (born 9 February 1944) is a New Zealand-born media personality, politician, actor, journalist and published author. He is best known for his career in Australia, on Melbourne radio and television. He served as a Senator for V ...

Program', and in 1986 commenced on-air as co-host of the 3AW Breakfast Show with Uncle Roy (aka Bruce Mansfield), until 1990. In 1990–1991 James co-hosted (with Bruce Mansfield)

3AK 3AK is the call sign of SEN 1116, an earlier the on-air name of a former Melbourne talk-back radio and music station, which, in 2003, leased its licence to sports network SEN 1116. A number of unusual events and precedents throughout the stati ...

's breakfast programBruce Mansfield. Australia Day website , Retrieved 15 April 2013
and in 1991, moved to TTFM where he co-hosted 'Breakfast' with Jane Holmes for a year and then was a general presenter there until 1994, when he rejoined 3AW. Since 1994, James has hosted twelve hours of 3AW programming on Saturday and Sunday mornings with 'Buy, Swap and Sell', the 'Big Backyard', 'The Big House' and the 'Sunday Morning' program. James has also appeared every week on the light-hearted one-hour feature ''Friday Lunch'', starting in 1996 with

Ernie Sigley Ernest William Sigley (2 September 1938 – 15 August 2021) was an Australian television host, comedian, variety performer, radio presenter and singer. Known as a pioneer of radio and television in Australian, he was often styled as a "little A ...

when Sigley was the afternoon host, and since November 2008, with

Denis Walter Denis Walter OAM, (born 3 January 1955) is an Australian radio presenter, baritone singer, recording artist and media personality who also presented television news for 16 years. Career Walter's music career has lasted over forty years and he ...

's afternoon program, along with Andrew McLaren. Since 1994, James has been the almost-permanent fill-in on 3AW Breakfast show co-host, firstly with

Ian Cover Ian James Cover (born 31 July 1956) is an Australian radio presenter, comedian, politician and author. He rose to prominence as a founding member of radio sporting comedy group the Coodabeen Champions, entered Victorian state politics in 1996, ser ...

, and then from 1996, with Tony Leonard covering for Ross Stevenson and

John Burns John Elliot Burns (20 October 1858 – 24 January 1943) was an English trade unionist and politician, particularly associated with London politics and Battersea. He was a socialist and then a Liberal Member of Parliament and Minister. He was ...

when they are on leave, usually for eight weeks per year. The exception was the December 2013 - January 2014 summer break when James hosted 3AW's afternoon show whilst Denis Walter took a break. For that period, Peter Maher took the breakfast shift with Tony Leonard. James was a regular contributor to the radio comedy team ' The Coodabeen Champions' when they were on 3AW from the late 1970s to the 1990s. Darren provided character voices for the Coodabeen's phone-in segments. During his long career James has been part of broadcasts from many parts of the world including London, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Ethiopia, Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore, the Sudan, India and Alice Springs, while co-hosting 'Breakfast' with Bruce Mansfield and as the audio engineer for fellow broadcaster

. James is also an MC and hosts corporate and public events including gatherings of the

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

Collingwood Football Club coterie group, 'The Woodsmen'.

Personal life

James is the son of veteran radio performer, the late Peter James, who worked in radio for around 30 years, including 17 years at 3AW. Darren James is married to Kathy (Kathryn Hopper James), a former television presenter, and they live in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. They have two adult children, Michael and Alice. Following in the family tradition, Michael is a content and executive producer and has worked at 3AW and

Triple M Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 40 radio stations broadcasting a mainstream rock music format and 5 digital radio stations. The network dates back to ...

and Alice James is a producer who has worked at

and KIIS 1011. James is a keen photographer and gardener.

Interests

Darren is a 'one-eyed' Collingwood Football Club supporter.

References

External links

3AW website
{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Darren Radio personalities from Melbourne 3AW presenters 1960 births Living people People educated at Blackburn High School