NICK'S PAST

Who is Nick? What does he do? What has he done before? Read on for a look at Nick, his troubles, his fans and his eventful past...

Nick Abbot is regarded by his ever growing army of faithful listeners as the best British talk presenter ever to walk our land. His unique style of broadcasting, his strong views on topics he feels are important, his library of sound effects combined with a one off sense of humour (and laugh to match) make him what he is today.

But Nick didn't just grow up to be who he is today and he certainly didn't just walk into his Talk Radio evening show without having to prove he was good enough to do it. It has taken Nick a couple of decades to get where he is now and there have been plenty of ups and downs along the way.

One of Nick's first radio broadcasting jobs was on Radio Luxembourg where he hosted an overnight music show - the odd bit of chat but nearly all music. However, one day somebody gave him a tape to listen to and it was this that changed the direction of Nick's career, for on the tape was an American talk presenter by the name of Neil Rogers. Nick immediately fell in love with Rogers' way of broadcasting and as a direct result changed his Radio Luxembourg show overnight into a talk show.

Nick's talk shows on Radio Luxembourg is where he began shaping himself into the kind of broadcaster he is today.

Nick joined Virgin Radio for its launch in 1993 and was given a late night phone in show between 10pm and 2am. Here is where Nick made his name in British broacasting as he built up thousands of fans and regular listeners throughout the course of the time he hosted the show.

Nick was dropped from the late night slot by Virgin Radio bosses following a number of complaints to the Radio Authority, in particular by one woman who bared a grudge against Nick. The station was fined heavily twice for Nick's outbursts and eventually they decided enough was enough and moved him to the Drive Time slot. That was the first step onto the slippery slope that ended Nick's spell at Virgin - he was soon fired by the station as they tried to clean up their act and he was left jobless.

After an age out in the wilderness, it was Talk Radio that gave Nick a chance to return to mainstream broadcasting. Ian Collins took a three week holiday and Nick was called in to cover for the show in his absence. Immediately Nick began to make the show his own and listeners gradually came to love Nick's style of radio. The three weeks ended and so did Nick's time at the station until later that year at Christmas. Again he covered for Ian Collins and again he proved to be very popular.

Shortly after Nick's brief spells on Talk Radio, a new set of Vrigin bosses hired Nick to fill in on various programmes for several months as the regular presenters took it and turns to go off on their holidays. Nick proved to be popular with the new men in charge and it became apparent they were keen to see him a part of the station line-up again.

Talk Radio at this time were in the process of offering Nick a Saturday afternoon show with co-host Carol McGiffen. The two of them worked together throughout the close of the football season and proved to be very popular indeed. It was almost certainly the Nick and Carol shows that convinced Talk Radio to keep Nick as part of their presenting staff.

The football season came around and the show ended, but not too long after and Nick had a show again. This time Nick was on his own on Saturday nights straight after Danny Baker. Once again, Nick built up an audience of listeners and proved to be very popular in which ever time slot he was put.

While Nick was working on Saturdays for Talk Radio, he was also being offered a permanent show on Virgin Radio. After moving him around a bit he eventually was given the afternoon slot from 1pm to 4pm and he has remained there ever since.

As Nick's spell of Saturday night shows came to an end, Talk Radio bosses decided that they had heard enough and wanted to give Nick his own daily show. He was offered the 7pm to 9pm evening show and after several weeks of ensuring job security and making sure the contract was in his interests he accepted.

Nick remained at Talk Radio until Thursday 12th November - Black Thursday - when he was fired by Kelvin MacKenzie along with fellow presenter Tommy Boyd because he didn't 'fit in' with the station's new format. Since then Nick has stayed at Virgin with his six day a week afternoon show, although hopes still remain high that he will one day soon return to the phones and be allowed to do what he does best.