Radio 2 in huge on-air meltdown as Vernon Kay left scrambling as music cuts out

Radio 2 DJ Vernon Kay had to go old-school on his show after a system failure brought chaos to his show.

The radio presenter was coming to the end of his programme on June 27, playing Won’t Get Fooled Again by The Who, when the music cut out and he had to call for help over the airwaves.

He called out for help from listeners, saying: “I don’t think it’s playing out because it’s gone deadly silent in the studio, which is quite strange.” But the consummate professional kept his cool, adding: “I’m fascinated by it because these things excite me when things go wrong on air.”

The 50-year-old presenter was not the only DJ affected, as fellow radio presenter Jeremy Vine said he had issues with the system while he was practising his show earlier that day.

Jeremy and Vernon quickly learned that in live radio the show must go on, so the two of them improvised over Vernon’s show with some chatting and small talk until a staff member came in to save the day with a box of CDs to play.

Vernon, who is married to Strictly presenter Tess Daly, let Jeremy keep talking while he hooked up a CD of Harry Styles ’ song Treat People With Kindness to the airwaves.

Back in the studio, Vernon jokingly said that while he was in the recording booth, staffers were running up and down from the BBC’s basement to find CDs and mini-discs to play on air.

A spokeswoman for the BBC said the issue “was a technical fault which was quickly fixed”.