Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | T | The Mail on Sunday (London, England)

Singing along to Take That nearly cost me my voice; TV BREAK: With Blue Peter's Konnie Huq, left, Katy Hill and Stuart Miles in 1997 SPEECH! Richard with Rebecca on their wedding day in January before he had surgery, top, and at work in the studio, above BACON FOR BREAKFAST: Richard, left, joined TV's Big Breakfast in 2001. His co-presenters included Donna Air, Johnny Vaughan and Denise Van Outen.

Article Excerpt
Byline: Victoria Lambert

New Year's Eve 2007, and the O2 Arena in South-East London was ringingwith the sound of fans singing and dancing to Take That, as the re-formed boyband ran through their latest songs and greatest hits.

Among the fans was TV and radio presenter Richard Bacon with his future wifeRebecca McFarlane, 29, head of marketing for Capital Radio.

The couple were joining in merrily, too, particularly to the anthemic NeverForget. 'Yes, embarrassingly,' says Richard, 32, 'we also had our hands aboveour heads, shouting out the chorus "Ne-ver For-get where you're coming from."'He stops: 'I can't recreate it completely accurately but you can imagine. Ihave quite a loud voice at the best of times.' For Richard, memories of theconcert have become somewhat tarnished by its legacy. That New Year's kneesup,he admits ruefully, ended up costing him more than [pounds sterling]4,000, three weeks off workand nearly his whole career as a broadcaster when it triggered an injury to hisvoice.

And astonishingly, Richard owes his recovery from it to his radio audience'sprompt attention.

'I work for Radio 5 Live,' says Richard, who is currently living with Rebeccaat her mother Anne's house in South-East London while the couple renovate ahouse in Belsize Park. 'I've been presenting the 10pm show since October butover Christmas I was filling in and doing the 9am show.

'The first week in January, I noticed that on air my voice sounded as though itwas broken and I thought it was the start of a bug, which can make your voicesound weaker. Or that it was a consequence of a lot to drink at the weekend.And sometimes you just lose your voice anyway but you don't worry about it.

'But then on the second day it happened again, and then the thirdday,...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!