Shropshire Star

Interview with video: The face of Midlands Today, Nick Owen, talks George Best, his big break and what makes the job such a joy

He's a favourite face of the region's news and Nick Owen has no plans to bow out just yet. . .

Published

Drinking with George Best, joking with Eric Morecambe, and replacing the legendary David Frost – welcome to the fascinating world of Nick Owen.

Next year Nick will chalk up 20 years as the face of Midlands Today – bringing the news to our living rooms for a generation.

But before that he was better known nationally as the king of breakfast television and formed a formidable partnership with Anne Diamond that would transform the way TV was made.

Nick's been on Midlands Today for almost 20 years

Looking back at a career that started in 1969 on the Doncaster Evening Post, Nick does the maths: "I make that 46, 47 years in journalism," he says.

"S***, is it really that long?" he adds with that trademark chuckle and Cheshire cat grin millions across the country have grown up with.

Nick attended Shrewsbury School (an independent boarding), where broadcasting legend Bob Warman was among his peers, before studying Classics at Leeds University.

After qualifying as a reporter in South Yorkshire, Nick moved to work on as a reporter on the Birmingham Post which would bring him back to the Midlands for the first time since his schoolboy days.

Breaking the news - his career spans four decades

Little did he know it would lead to a life-long love affair with the region and have defining moments in his career.

"Around that time local radio had just started," says Nick who lives in Kinver with his partner Vicki.

"I kept going out on stories and meeting radio reporters who were saying it was great fun in these early days of radio and why didn't I give it a go.

"So I applied to the BBC and after three goes ultimately got the job as a producer on BBC Radio Birmingham, as it was called then.

And there is a bar named after him at Luton Town Football Club's Kenilworth Road where he became chairman after the club was rescued by businessmen around eight years ago.

But for the fame that made him a household name nationally, there was one awkward instance when he was not recognised at somewhere he probably should have been.

Nick explains: "I was with my kids before a game against Port Vale and we decided to get a drink in the Nick Owen Lounge.

So we queued up and this guy on the door said 'sorry mate you can't come in, it's full up', health and safety, you know.

I said fair enough and we walked off and didn't give it another thought.

"There were other people queuing and waiting for a gap. The guy behind me that day I then saw at a game a few weeks later and he said, 'you know the other week you couldn't get into your own bar, well I said to the bloke on the door do you know who that was?' He said 'no', and the bloke said 'well that's his name above the door'.

"It must have been awful for him but I most certainly wouldn't dream of being a diva, I laughed it off and didn't give it a second's thought."

Aside from broadcasting, football is Nick's first love followed by cricket and walking.

He says: "My father was also a big Luton fan so I am extremely proud that both my parents lived to see me become chairman which is an absolute privilege. My four kids are also Luton Town mad and probably get to more games than I do.

"Football and cricket are massive for me. I go a lot and watch them on TV too. I have a wonderful circle of friends who I go out with.

Nick with his partner Vicki

"To relax I also see the children and grandchildren and of course spend time with my partner Vicki. One of the big things we do is walking. We walk a huge amount. We were recently on a cruise and we would do 12 miles in a day just walking around the decks.

"We walk up mountains and to remote villages in the hills. Walking is a very big part of what we do mainly in Shropshire, Staffordshire and Worcestershire.

"The Long Mynd is one of my favourite places."

But what's the secret of Nick's longevity on our television screens?

Nick says the most important ingredient to being a successful TV presenter is 'warmth'.

He says: "People have got to feel warm, that you know what you are saying and that you care about it. People need to identify with the presenters.

"You have to be on your mettle and because I have spent so much of my time in the Midlands I very much feel an adopted Midlander. I just love this part of the world and feel I know it really well and genuinely think it is a real privilege and responsibility to be broadcasting into people's homes every night. I meet people all the time who say they regard me as someone they know really well. You go on air every night and have to be keyed up."

And Nick, a youthful 68-year-old, says he has no desire to retire. He adds: "I love it. One of the things I most love is working with a team of people. The banter is razor sharp and it's a joy.

"The producer covered everything, he read the news, wrote the news, cut tapes with razor blades which is the one technical thing I have been good at in my life – usually when I buy a car they have to tell me where to sit.

"I got quite adept at cutting tape and taking the umms and errs out and got a job at Pebble Mill."

Nick, a father of four grown-up children, was born in Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire and, like his father, is a passionate and life-long Luton Town supporter where he is club chairman as well as being 'cricket mad'.

So moving into sports broadcasting had obvious appeal.

"I ended up doing a lot of sports commentating and sports reporting and became a sports editor. So that was when I really got to learn about broadcasting and long programmes. We'd go on air at 1pm and end up at something like 6pm which was very long. I'm very proud to say I invented the goal horn, which is still used on WM.

"And I had some great experiences travelling Europe with Aston Villa and West Brom. In those days you wouldn't just interview the players, you would go out with them."

Then the rival broadcaster came calling.

"I got a call from ATV as it was then, now Central, saying they were extending their sports coverage and would I be interested with a six month contract," he says.

"I was on staff at the BBC so it was a bit risky but I was free and easy then and took it. That was November 1978 and amazingly I was on air the very first day doing a live piece. I had a brilliant four years, was very lucky, commentating on the World Cup in 1982 in Spain, and the European Championships. I was in the room when Trevor Francis became the first £1 million player at Nottingham Forest. It is funny really because while I knew him well then he is now a really big buddy and I see him all the time, and now they are buying players for £100 million."

But in 1983 his big break came – and would change his life completely.

"This new thing came along called breakfast television. Shortly before it went on air I got a call to see if I was interested in being sports presenter on TV-am.

"My life radically changed. After eight weeks I replaced David Frost as the main anchorman. That was a stunning moment that catapulted me to the front pages.

"TV-am was very much the focus of the media because it was started by the famous five of David Frost, Michael Parkinson, Robert Kee, Anna Ford and Angela Rippon.

"It just didn't work in the early days and was being beaten by the BBC and they decided they had to change it and suddenly put me in as the main male presenter with Anna Ford and Angela Rippon.

"Frost was a legend and an international superstar on both sides of the Atlantic. To replace him was daunting to say the least. He was nothing but supportive. He came into the office every day to talk about it with me, being a friend and encouraging me. You have to remember that he wasn't just a broadcaster, he was a major shareholder. It was his baby and he wanted it to succeed.

"I shared an office with Michael Parkinson and became good friends. I saw him only a couple of weeks ago at the cricket.

"But, and this is a crucial part, they sacked Anna and Angela and said to me who in a perfect world would you want to present with? I said Anne Diamond. They said who is Anne Diamond and I explained we had co-presented at Central TV. Greg Dyke, who was in charge, met her in a pub that night and six weeks later she was sat next to me.

Shining bright - Nick with Anne Diamond in the 1990s

"We had been getting on for four years doing that and it just rocketed I am glad to say. I think our partnership was important. We were the boy and girl next door. There were so many great ideas of Greg Dyke's and people like Diana Dors, Jimmy Greaves, Gyles Brandreth, Paul Gambaccini, and Gordon Honeycombe reading the news – a big name ex-ITV newsreader – and it really did do really well. We had Wincey Willis who was someone who we would take the mickey out of and have banter. And there was Roland Rat of course.

"It was a very exciting time as it rocketed through the ratings and there were so many ingredients.

"Breakfast television was the most wonderful time. It was so new to this country – you felt like you were a pioneer of it. Pioneering it with style as a couple. Anne and I were husband and wife professionally. I suppose we were the trailblazers really, it was really an exciting time."

It was a time that would see Nick interview his idol and fellow Luton Town supporter Eric Morecambe. Both also have lounges named after them at Kenilworth Road.

Good morning - Anne and Nick worked on TV-am together in the 80s

"Interviewing him on breakfast television was great. We had just played West Ham the night before in the top flight and I knew he had not been at the game. I said to Eric I know you couldn't get to the game last night so I bought you a programme. He said thanks a lot I'll treasure that and threw it over his shoulder! Later on I said it's been great having you on the show could you stay a bit longer, he said 'stay, I could marry you'.

"He was just lovely and the tragic thing is that less than 40 days after that he was dead."

Nick then left the breakfast sofa to become a sports anchor with ITV, leading to more career highlights that included hosting coverage of the Olympic Games in 1988 and the World Cup in Italy in 1990.

In 1992, Nick and Anne would reunite with Good Morning with Anne and Nick, this time on BBC broadcasting from Pebble Mill in Birmingham, and they attracted audiences of a whopping 15 million.

Nick adds: "Being a journalist is a privilege. If there is something interesting you go to the centre of it. That's what first interested me from the beginning at a time all those around me were becoming teachers or bankers.

Big break - Nick's life changed when he joined breakfast television

"I have interviewed seven Prime Ministers going back to Harold Wilson and major showbiz figures like Bob Hope in his back garden. As a teenager I worshipped Jane Fonda and had her posters all over my wall. I ended up interviewing her in Hollywood which was a bit special.

"I got to know George Best pretty well. I had a few good nights out with him. They were thirst-quenching. But one day we had to turn him away because he just wasn't up to it. Things like that are a bit sad because to me he was the greatest footballer to ever live and I have been lucky enough to see Pele live and Maradona, but for me George Best was just something else."

Such is the nature of live TV there has also been the times where it has not gone so well.

"Arnold Schwarzenegger threatened to walk out of an interview because he thought I was being rude to him," he says. "Thankfully Anne calmed him down.

"One particular thing that happened to me which I will never forget. Elton John was getting married in Australia and there were pictures coming in and I had nipped out to go to the loo during the eight o'clock news. The sound department hadn't noticed I had gone and didn't switch my microphone off. So I shared a very private moment with millions of people. People were phoning in for the rest of the morning saying what on earth was going on while Anne Diamond was talking, it sounded like she was on the banks of the Zambezi."

By Rob Golledge

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.