Geoff Barron Lloyd (born 20 April 1973) is an English

radio presenter A radio personality (American English) or radio presenter (British English) is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host, and in India and Pakistan as a ra ...

, television host, podcast host and writer, best known for his talk radio and music shows.

Early life

Lloyd was born in

Withington Withington is a suburb of Manchester, England. Historically part of Lancashire, it lies from Manchester city centre, about south of Fallowfield, north-east of Didsbury and east of Chorlton-cum-Hardy. Withington has a population of just ...

, Manchester, England,Barrie White
"Radio's Geoff Lloyd,"
Mancunian Matters, 13 March 2011. and raised in

Macclesfield, Cheshire Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east ...

, England."Absolute Radio's Geoff Lloyd: I’ve been shunned by my home town,"
'' Metro'', 5 November 2012. As a teen, he worked as a paperboy, a suit salesman, and in 1989 he began working at a local print works after school, earning £1 an hour.

Career

Beginnings in radio (1991–96)

Lloyd began his radio career in 1991 as a traffic and travel reporter at Signal Cheshire in

Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is withi ...

, remaining there until the end of 1994.Sophie Morris
"My Mentor: Geoff Lloyd on Craig Cash,"
''The Independent'', 7 January 2007. Lloyd has called comedian

Craig Cash Craig Cash (born 11 September 1960)
Retrie ...

a major influence on his career, for both his comedy and interview style as well as his support. Cash hired Lloyd to work on ''

The Mrs Merton Show ''The Mrs Merton Show'' was a mock talk show starring Caroline Aherne as the elderly host Mrs Dorothy Merton. Originally portrayed as 'Mrs. Murton' in a pilot for Yorkshire TV which was not picked up, Caroline Aherne retooled the character, ma ...

'' as a runner, and later introduced Lloyd to Pete Mitchell, who he would end up teaming up with on the air for a decade as the duo Pete and Geoff.

Pete and Geoff (1996–2005)

Lloyd first teamed up with Pete Mitchell in 1996 at

Piccadilly Radio Greatest Hits Radio Manchester & The North West is an Independent Local Radio station based in Manchester, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Greatest Hits Radio Network. It broadcasts to Greater Manchester and North West Eng ...

in Manchester. Soon after, they took over the afternoon show on local radio station

Key 103 ''For the Network, see Hits Radio. For the National DAB station, see Hits Radio UK.'' Hits Radio Manchester is an Independent local radio station owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Greater Mancheste ...

.Julia Day
"Pete and Geoff split up,"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'', 4 November 2005."Pete and Geoff in big split,"
''

Manchester Evening News The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 20 ...

'', 8 November 2005. In late 1998, the duo, known as

Pete and Geoff The duo of Pete and Geoff were DJs Pete Mitchell and Geoff Lloyd, who from January 2003 to December 2005 hosted the breakfast show on Virgin Radio. In the early 1980s, Mitchell was an aspiring musician who moved into management and production. ...

, was recruited by

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, ...

to take over the weekday evening show. They also covered for Chris Evans on the breakfast show on occasion, and rapidly built up a large audience. The pair took over the

drive time Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this cl ...

breakfast show in 2002. Lloyd provided a comedic, occasionally outrageous personality, with Mitchell as the straight man. They were known for their "political satire… mixed with pub humour.""Radio: Viva Las Virgin,"
''The Independent'', 14 November 2004. They won a Sony Gold

Radio Academy Award The Radio Academy Awards, started in 1983, were the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. For most of their existence, they were run by ZAFER Associates, but in latter years were brought under the control of The Radio Academy ...

for an interview with

Noel Gallagher Noel Thomas David Gallagher (born 29 May 1967) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. He was the chief songwriter, lead guitarist, and co-lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis until their split in 2009. After leaving Oasis, he formed ...

in 1998,"Pete Mitchell currently presents Sunday mornings here on Radio 2,"

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

. Accessed 3 July 2016. and won a second Sony Gold for an interview with

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

in 2002."DJ duo quit Virgin breakfast show,"

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadc ...

, 17 May 2005. In March 2005, Virgin Radio launched a daily half-hour

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

consisting of the best bits from the ''Pete and Geoff Breakfast Show''. It was the station's first foray into podcasting, and the first daily show to be made available in podcast format from one of the major radio groups. In May 2005, the duo announced that they were splitting up, and left the breakfast show at the end of the year. Their final show together took place on 16 December 2005.Adam Bowie
"A Brief History of Virgin Radio,"
adambowie.com, 12 March 2014. Virgin Radio programming director Paul Jackson called them "great radio talents." The duo were replaced as hosts of the breakfast show by

Christian O'Connell Christian Liam O'Connell (born 7 April 1973 in Winchester, Hampshire) is a British radio disc jockey, television host, writer, and comedian living in Australia. He presents ''The Christian O'Connell Show'' on weekday mornings on Gold 104.3 in ...

. Lloyd remained at Virgin Radio, taking over the late night slot.

''Geoff Lloyd with Annabel Port'' and other shows (2006–12 April 2017)

Lloyd's new show, ''

The Geoff Show ''The Geoff Show'' was a humorous radio program, broadcast on Absolute Radio (formerly Virgin Radio) from 3 January 2006 to 25 September 2008. The show ran for three hours, between 10pm and 1am, Monday to Thursday. Presented by Geoff Lloyd, it ...

'', debuted on 3 January 2006 and was broadcast late nights on Virgin Radio, with co-host

Annabel Port Annabel Port (born 12 March 1975, Southend-on-Sea) is a British radio presenter. She was the co-presenter of Geoff Lloyd with Annabel Port on Absolute Radio from 2008 until the show ended on 12 April 2017. Previously, she has worked on The Geo ...

and producer Nelson Kumah. The first public airing of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

remix album ''

Love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...

'' was on ''The Geoff Show'' in 2006. Virgin Radio was rebranded as

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: Vi ...

in 2008. On 20 March 2008 Lloyd began presenting the Absolute Radio weekday drive time program ''Geoff Lloyd's Hometime Show'', with Port remaining as co-host.Miranda Sawyer
"Rewind Radio: Don't Log Off; Beatles Brunch with Geoff Lloyd; Geoff Lloyd's Hometime Show – review,"
''The Guardian'', 11 May 2013. The show combines music and chat, with call-ins on various topics. At its core is "the digressive, quirky chat on matters of very little real importance." On 1 August 2015 the show was moved back an hour, and renamed '' Geoff Lloyd with Annabel Port''. From 2010 to 2014, Lloyd hosted ''Unknown Pleasures'' on Absolute Radio, playing indie rock and alternative music. In 2013, Lloyd began hosting ''Beatles Brunch with Geoff Lloyd'' on Sunday mornings on

Absolute Radio 60s Absolute Radio 60s is a semi-national Digital radio station in the United Kingdom owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Absolute Radio Network. It broadcasts locally on Bauer's 11B Inverness DAB Multiplex. It broadcasts nationally via Smar ...

, two hours of Beatles music and cover versions of their songs, along with talk exclusively about the band. In 2016, Lloyd and Port created the podcast ''Serial: This British Life'', a parody of the

WBEZ WBEZ (91.5 FM) – branded ''WBEZ 91.5'' – is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed to serve Chicago, Illinois, and primarily serving the Chicago metropolitan area. Financed by corporate underwriting, government funding and li ...

podcast '' Serial''. Lloyd has interviewed a wide variety of subjects, including

, talk show host

Conan O'Brien Conan Christopher O'Brien (born April 18, 1963) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and producer. He is best known for having hosted late-night talk shows for almost 28 years, beginning with '' Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' ( ...

, comedian

Russell Brand Russell Edward Brand (born 4 June 1975) is an English comedian and actor known for his flamboyant, loquacious style and manner. Brand has received three British Comedy Awards: Best Newcomer (2006), Best Live Stand-Up (2008), and the award for ...

and then-UK Labour Party leader

Ed Miliband Edward Samuel "Ed" Miliband (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero since 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster North since 2005. Miliba ...

, in an interview described as one of Miliband's best broadcast interview performances. On 18 January 2017 Geoff Lloyd announced he and Annabel were leaving Absolute Radio. The final show aired on Wednesday 12 April.

After Absolute (12 April 2017 - present)

In May 2017, It was announced Lloyd would be fronting a show for The Beatles Channel on

Sirius XM Radio Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...

. In August 2017, Lloyd launched a podcast, 'Adrift with Geoff Lloyd and Annabel Port', with his former radio co-host, and the following month launched 'Reasons to be Cheerful', a podcast with

Lloyd made a return to commercial radio in early 2018 with Geoff Lloyd's Hometown Glory, an interview series for

Union JACK The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

, featuring guests from comedy, music and entertainment. The show returned for a second run in the summer. Since leaving Absolute, Lloyd has established himself as a regular cover presenter for

, standing in for

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 fami ...

Adrian Chiles Adrian Chiles (born 21 March 1967) is a British writer and television and radio presenter. He has co-presented both '' The One Show'' (2007–2010) and '' Daybreak'' (2010–2011) with Christine Lampard. He was also the chief presenter for fo ...

and covering the breakfast show on

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station Broadcasting of sports events, covering sport in ...

, and covering various late-night programmes on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

, and on

BBC Radio 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available onl ...

. On 11 May 2019, Lloyd began presenting on

at short notice as a temporary replacement for the sacked

(his second sacking from Radio 5). Lloyd's introduction included, "We have some top-notch Polyfilla this morning covering the cracks..

Writing and television

Lloyd has written for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

's ''

TFI Friday ''TFI Friday'' is an entertainment show that was broadcast on Channel 4 television in the United Kingdom. It was produced by Ginger Productions, written by Danny Baker, and hosted by Chris Evans, for the first five series. The sixth series ...

'',

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

's ''

Comic Relief Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic epis ...

'',

Chris Addison Christopher David Addison (born 5 November 1971) is a British comedian, writer, actor, and director. He is perhaps best known for his role as a regular panellist on '' Mock the Week''. He is also known for his lecture-style comedy shows, two o ...

's ''Cakes and Ale'' show at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

, and '' Dave Gorman: Modern Life is Goodish''. He was a columnist for '' The New Day'', and has written for the ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

'' and ''

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

''. In 2009 and 2010, Lloyd worked alongside Annabel Port on a Channel 5 fan show for the drama series ''

FlashForward A flashforward (also spelled flash-forward, and more formally known as prolepsis) is a scene that temporarily takes the narrative forward in time from the current point of the story in literature, film, television and other media. Flashforwards a ...

''. Titled ''FlashForward Friday'', the online show was a weekly review on the latest episode of the series following its broadcast on Channel 5. From 2011 to 2013, Lloyd and Port hosted seasons 1–3 of ''

Thronecast ''Thronecast'' is a British television series which aired on Sky Atlantic between 2011 and 2019. From the fifth series onwards, the show was presented by Sue Perkins and Jamie East. It is an aftershow to '' Game of Thrones'', which also aired o ...

'', a

Sky Atlantic Sky Atlantic is a British pay television channel owned by Sky Group Limited broadcast in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel is primarily dedicated to imported programmes from the United States, and holds the domestic rights to HB ...

television series reviewing the latest episodes of HBO's ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of '' A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the fir ...

''. In 2018, Lloyd created and co-produced a comedy talk-show format, 'Am I Normal?', hosted by

Sara Pascoe Sara Patricia Pascoe (born 22 May 1981) is an English actress, comedian and writer. She has appeared on television programmes including ''8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown'' for Channel 4, '' QI'' for BBC and '' Taskmaster'' for the digital chan ...

and

Aisling Bea Aisling Clíodhnadh O'Sullivan (born 16 March 1984), known professionally as Aisling Bea ( ), is an Irish comedian, actor and writer. She created, wrote and starred in the comedy series '' This Way Up'' on Channel 4. As a stand-up comedian, she ...

, and broadcast on

. Lloyd has appeared several times on the Channel 4 show ''

Richard & Judy ''Richard & Judy'' (also known as ''Richard & Judy's New Position'') is a British television chat show presented by the married couple Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan. The show originally aired on Channel 4 from 26 November 2001 to 22 Augus ...

''; as a commentator on ''

Big Brother's Little Brother This is a complete list of shows about and relating to '' Big Brother UK'' and '' Celebrity Big Brother''. The civilian edition ran from 2000 to 2018 and the celebrity edition ran from 2001 to 2018. ''Big Brother'' ''Big Brother'' was a daily s ...

'' with

Dermot O'Leary Seán Dermot Fintan O'Leary Jr. (born 24 May 1973) is an English broadcaster who currently works for ITV and BBC Radio 2. His radio career began when he worked as a disc jockey at Essex Radio, but he is best known for being the presenter of ' ...

; and as a celebrity contestant on the game shows '' Eggheads'', and ''Win, Lose or Draw Late''.

Awards

* Silver Sony

for ''The Pete & Geoff Afternoon Show'' on

, 1998 * Gold Sony Radio Academy Award for The Best Daily Music Programme for ''The Pete & Geoff Show'' on

, 2002 * European Radio Award for Best Radio Personality, 2007 * Bronze Sony Radio Academy Award for Music Personality of the Year, 2008 *

Arqiva Arqiva () is a British telecommunications company which provides infrastructure, broadcast transmission and smart meter facilities in the United Kingdom. The company is headquartered at the former Independent Broadcasting Authority headquart ...

Commercial Radio Presenter of the Year (large – broadcasting to more than 1 million), 2010 * Gold Sony Radio Academy Award for Best Single Promo/Commercial for ''Geoff Lloyd's Hometime Show'' – "The Complaints", 2012 * Nominee, Sony Radio Academy Award for Best Entertainment Programme for ''Geoff Lloyd's Hometime Show'', 2013 * Nominee,

Broadcasting Press Guild The Broadcasting Press Guild (BPG) is a British association of journalists dedicated to the topic of general media issues. History The Guild was established in 1974 as a breakaway of The Critics' Circle. Currently it groups over 100 staff and f ...

Radio Broadcaster of the Year, 2015 * Winner,

Awards 2018 Podcast of the Year * Nominee, British Podcast Awards - Best New Podcast for 'Reasons to be Cheerful with Ed Miliband and Geoff Lloyd' * Nominee, British Podcast Awards - Best Current Affairs Podcast for 'Reasons to be Cheerful with Ed Miliband and Geoff Lloyd' * Bronze Award, British Podcast Awards - Best New Podcast for 'Adrift with Geoff Lloyd and Annabel Port'

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lloyd, Geoff 1973 births Living people English radio DJs Absolute Radio Virgin Radio (UK) English television presenters People from Withington People from Macclesfield