Tea Break Tour with Tom Green
Tea Break Tour is all about the people behind our brands. Every show, every story and every connection with our audiences starts with a person and this series is a chance to pause, put the kettle on and recognise the talent and creativity that brings Bauer to life. From audio and publishing to teams across the wider business, Tea Break Tour celebrates the personalities you hear, read and see every day, sharing the stories and moments you don’t always get when the mic is live or the day gets busy.
This time, Hits Radio’s Tom Green takes us on his Tea Break Tour – although, with around five coffees getting him through a show, there’s not much tea involved. Tom tells us why being able to be completely himself with his listeners is the best part of the job, looks back on the time he helped rescue a caller who was trapped in a Greggs toilet live on air and reveals his ultimate tea break snack.
First things first, how do you take your tea?
It’s actually coffee, with a bit of milk. I have so many of these during the show. If I say five, is that bad? Because five is probably true.
If you had to describe your Hits Radio show in three words, what would they be?
Half decent stuff.
Actually, very good stuff. There you go.
What’s one thing people would be surprised to hear happens behind the mic at Hits Radio?
Probably the fact that we actually put quite a lot of work in to make the show sound good. The one question I’m always asked is, ‘How do you pick the music?’ Obviously, I don’t. There’s a whole team of people and it’s a massive job coming up with what we play on the show. So I think the thing that would surprise people most is that it’s not me picking the songs!
What do you love most about your job?
I get to be really open and honest with the audience every single day. I’m very lucky to be on Hits Radio, a station where I can just be myself and talk about my dog Turtle, my wife and all that sort of stuff.
I can just be really me. That’s what I love about my job – I get to share my life with the audience, and they can’t run away. They have to listen to me!
And just to clarify… Turtle is your dog?
Yes! I’ve got a miniature sausage dog called Turtle. It’s weird. I don’t know why it happened, it just did.
What’s the funniest moment you’ve had on the radio?
This happened right at the start of my career a few years ago. We had a woman who worked at Greggs who got stuck in the toilet and couldn’t get out, so she called my breakfast show at the time to try and get her out.
We had to call the building next to her and they broke in live on the radio. I just kept saying, ‘Please don’t swear!’ It was very nerve-racking, but it will always stick with me as one of my favourite things that’s ever happened.
And yes, we did get her out – all within the space of one hour of great broadcasting. That’s commercial radio at its absolute finest.
What’s one thing your listeners might not know about you?
Probably that I do around 30,000 steps a day. I walk to the train station, then walk to the building, walk home and then walk my dog.
I lost a load of weight a few years ago and one of the big things I did was just do more steps. So, on average, I do about 30,000 a day.
We hear you’re also a pretty big golf fan…
Huge golfer. Massive golfer. In the summer I try and play most days after the show. I feel like that’s what Terry Wogan would have done back in the day! I actually played at a golf club recently where Terry Wogan famously played and did a TV show for ITV. Those were the days of broadcasting – just do a TV show playing golf. The dream.
Your golf podcast co-host is Magic Radio’s Tom Price. How would you describe him in three words?
Most English Welshman. He says he’s Welsh, but he’s the most English man I’ve ever met in my whole life. And he’s a pretty nice bloke.
Finally, what’s your perfect tea break snack? Or should we say halfway-hut snack?
For a halfway hut, a sausage roll. Or, if it’s a really posh golf club, it’s just a sausage. No roll. Weird, but that’s a posh thing people do.
For a tea break on the show, M&S do this biscuit that’s basically like a custard cream dipped in chocolate and it’s extremely luxurious. It’s good stuff.