Vernon Kay switches to CDs after Radio 2’s digital system breaks down

The 50-year-old radio presenter from Bolton was listening to The Who’s Won’t Get Fooled Again when the problem occurred towards the end of his show on Thursday.

The song was interrupted around 11:30 and he came back on the radio laughing. He said, “This has never happened to me before, that the computer system just went down.”

He asked listeners to contact him because the screen in front of him showed the song playing, but he couldn’t hear it in the studio.

Kay seemed unsure about the silence on the broadcast, saying: “I don’t think it’s happening because it’s gone dead silent in the studio, which is quite strange… but I’m fascinated by it because these are the sort of things that excite me when something goes wrong on the radio.”

Fellow presenter Jeremy Vine, who follows Kay at lunchtime, chimed in to say he was experiencing problems in his studio as he was ‘practicing’ his weekday show.

They tried to play the next songs, but they couldn’t be heard either, and Kay said they would be forced to chat for “30 minutes” instead.

An aide entered with CDs in a box as Vine continued to preview his show, which included coverage of the general election. He also donned an age-simulation suit, which makes the wearer’s feet heavier and muffles the sound.

READ MORE: Vernon Kay is cheered on by hundreds of pupils at the old school

Vernon Kay in photos on arrival in Bolton, his birthplace

Vernon let Jeremy continue while he tried to help solve the problem, playing Harry Styles’ song Treat People With Kindness from a CD.

He joked that the Radio 2 team “ran down to the basement to get some cassettes and some MiniDiscs” to keep the music going.

After playing a recording of his interview with Glastonbury act Shania Twain, broadcast earlier on Sunday, he said the system was “up and running” and “we’re back to normal” around 11.50am.