Russell "Russ" Williams (born 21 January 1962) is an English radio DJ from

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

, primarily known for his long-running shows on

Virgin Radio Virgin Radio launched in the United Kingdom in 1993. In 2008, Virgin Radio UK was sold to TIML, a subsidiary of The Times of India group, and the name was changed to Absolute Radio; the Virgin Radio name was not included in the sale. In 2001, ...

(from 1993), and 2008 to 2016 on

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 ...

, the re-launched version of Virgin Radio.

Early life

Williams trained at London's National Broadcasting School in Programming and Journalism.

Radio career

After his training, Williams landed a journalist job at

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

Southern Sound Heart Sussex (previously Southern FM, also operating as Heart Sussex for Crawley & Surrey in Crawley and Surrey) was an Independent Local Radio station which was owned by Global Radio (formerly GCap Media) and played commercial, chart-orient ...

including presenting weekend Breakfast, which then led to a presenting job at Radio Mercury in

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, presenting a chart show every Sunday from 3–5pm. Williams then moved to Finland where he presented his own show on Helsinki's Radio 1. Williams returned to the UK and joined Newcastle's

Metro Radio Metro Radio is an Independent Local Radio station based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to County Durham, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear. As of September 2022, the ...

. In 1990, he joined London's

Capital Radio Capital London is a radio station owned and operated by the Global media company as part of its national Capital FM Network. As Capital Radio it was launched in the London area in 1973 as one of Britain's first two commercial radio stations. I ...

to present the Weekend Breakfast Show, which remained his domain for three years. He often stood in as holiday relief for

Chris Tarrant Christopher John Tarrant, (born 10 October 1946) is an English broadcaster, television personality and former radio DJ. He presented the ITV (TV network), ITV children's television show ''Tiswas'' from 1974 to 1981, and the game show ''Who Wa ...

, and he also hosted ''The Rebel Yell Rock Machine'', which was syndicated across the nation's airwaves every week. Williams worked at

since it went on air in 1993. His first role was the Breakfast show, initially on his own, then alongside Jonathan Coleman. In October 1997, due to Chris Evans' arrival at the station, the duo went on to present the Drivetime show and in early 1998, Williams took on the mid-morning show on his own, until he finished in May 2015. He also presented a show on Absolute Classic Rock but left both shows in May 2015. In February 2008, he joined TalkSport as host of ''Kick Off''. Williams announced that he was leaving his mid-morning show on Absolute Radio on 28 April 2015 but would still continue his Saturday afternoon show for ''Rock and Roll Football''. His last appearance on ''Rock and Roll Football'' was in May 2016. He joined Global Radio to host breakfast on Smooth Radio in March 2016 and began presenting on LBC London News later that year with his Saturday afternoon football show, ''Scores''. He left both suddenly in 2018. He has hosted ''Saturday Scoreboard'' for Talksport after leaving Global. On 14 January 2019, he and Jonathan Coleman were reunited and joined Fix Radio when they started hosting their new show called ''The Russ & Jono Fix Radio Experience''. In January 2020, Williams began hosting the weekday morning show 10–1pm on London’s DAB station,

Nation Radio UK Nation Radio UK is a quasi-national radio station in the UK, broadcasting online and on DAB. It is owned and operated by Nation Broadcasting. The digital station was launched in June 2016 as Thames Radio with a line-up of former BBC and Capita ...

. As of the 11th April 2022, Williams began hosting the weekday afternoon show 1pm - 4pm on Nation Radio UK's sister stations

Nation Radio Scotland Nation Radio Scotland (formerly ''XFM Scotland (2014), 96.3 Rock Radio'' ''Real XS,'' ''Q96'' and ''96.3QFM'') is a Scottish independent local radio station for Renfrewshire, Glasgow and West Central Scotland, owned by Nation Broadcasting. ...

and Nation Radio Wales in addition to his

show.

TV work

In 1995 and 1996, Williams was host of the Sky Sports TV show, ''

Soccer AM ''Soccer AM'' is a British football-based comedy/talk show, produced by Sky Sports. First broadcast in 1995, the programme currently airs on Sky Showcase, Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Football at 10.30am on Saturdays during the fo ...

'' and also presented Sky's live Football League coverage when they first obtained the rights in the 1996/97 season. In 1998, he was the announcer on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

's Saturday night show '' Don't Try This at Home!''. Then in 2001, he was the event commentator on the Channel 5 sports show ''Under Pressure'' which lasted one series and ten episodes. During ITV's broadcasting of Premier League football coverage from 2001 to 2004, Williams was part of the team, commentating on edited matches and goal highlights. He also presented ITV's snooker coverage (the Nations Cup and the Champions Cup) between 1999 and 2002.

Books

Russ Williams is author or co-author of the following books: "Football Babylon", Virgin Books (1996) "The Russ and Jono's Breakfast Experience" (with Jonathan Coleman), Virgin Books (1997) "Football Babylon 2", Virgin Books (1998) "How to Walk Yourself Healthy and Happy: Why Walking Exercise Boosts Physical and Mental Health", M-Y Books Ltd. (2020) "How to Walk Yourself Healthy and Happy: Discover the Physical and Mental Benefits of Regular Walking" (audiobook), Zenibo Publishing (2020)

Personal life

Williams lives in

Tewin Tewin is an English village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England between the towns of Welwyn Garden City, Stevenage, Welwyn (village) and the county town Hertford, it is within commuting distance of London. Tewin Wood is a very affluent re ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

. He is an ardent walker and a supporter of

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Russ 1962 births Absolute Radio People from Blackpool English radio DJs Living people