BBC newsreader reveals how he secured Glastonbury set

A 'secret junglist' BBC newsreader has revealed how he was able to secure an 'unlikely' Drum and Bass set at the upcoming Glastonbury festival.

BBC presenter Ros Atkins left fans astonished last month when he made a shock announcement that he will be hitting the decks at Glastonbury's Stonebridge stage.

Now, the host - who is best known for his 'explainer' videos - has let followers in on the backstory of how he managed to secure the gig, which he described as an 'unlikely development'.

Atkins shocked listeners two years ago when he revealed his colourful background as a Drum and Bass DJ after making a surprise appearance as the presenter of BBC Radio 6 Music's Desert Island Disco All-Dayer.

BBC newsreader Ros Atkins will be performing a DJ set at Glastonbury at the end of this month. He wrote a series of posts on social media earlier today detailing the backstory behind how he secured the gig

Atkins revealed in 2022 his background as a Drum and Bass DJ. He played a range of music at venues in London, Cornwall and Cambridge, as well as South Africa

He made a thread on X - formerly Twitter - at the time which generated a lot of social media attention. The presenter revealed how he had previously played sets at venues in London as well as South Africa, but gave it up in 2006 after the birth of his eldest daughter.

Writing a string of posts on X today, Atkins wrote: 'As I may have mentioned a couple of times, in an unlikely development, I'm going to be doing a drum and bass set @Glastonbury.

'And, not at all unreasonable, quite a few people have asked me variations on "how did that happen?!" Well, there's a bit of a story here.

'In 2022, I was asked about my (very) amateur DJing days in an interview. Soon after, I got an email from Matt Tasker @BBC6Music asking if I'd like to do a set. At the time, I wrote this thread about it all which got shared a lot more than I expected.'

The current thread links back to the previous thread posted in 2022, which shares a backstory of Atkins' journey into DJing, with old pictures of the presenter showing him in his DJ'ing days in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

A thread from 2022 where Atkins revealed his past in DJ'ing has photos of him and his friends going to raves as well as him DJ'ing at venues

One of Atkins' Drum and Bass 'heroes' Ray Keith. Ray went through everything including the kit, mixing techniques, and tune selection with Atkins

Back when the first thread was posted, a bar called The Social commented 'Social basement gig?!' to which Atkins replied 'Yes please'.

Along with The Social, some of Atkins' 'drum and bass heroes' including the LTJ Bukem and Ray Keith commented under the thread.

In the summer of 2022, Atkins visited Thames Delta Radio in Grays, Essex, by invitation from Keith. Keith ran through everything from the kit with Atkins and the pair played a set together at The Social in September 2022.

Atkins wrote on X: 'I was up and running. I kept practising. And we did another night last year - this time with the brilliant Chinese Daughter too.

'Not long afterwards, Carl Gosling from The Social stated mentioning the idea of me playing @ParkStonebridge at @glastonbury.

'Before long, Carl messaged to say we were on - and I took a very deep breath.

'Which leads up to this poster - and a 1530-1700 set on Saturday at this year's festival.

The presenter will be playing at the Stonebridge stage at Glastonbury on the Saturday

In the social media post in 2022, Atkins shared a series of images of him performing, including at his last gig (above) in Regents Park in 2006

'I haven't remotely got used to the idea. I'm incredibly grateful for the invite - and to @BBC6Music, Ray Keith, The Social, and others who've encouraged me along the way.'

Atkins had played his last gig in 2006 at London's Regents Park, which was a 'reasonable sweaty affair'. His eldest daughter was born 'a few days later' and he stopped performing until very recently.

He said: 'I also lived in South Africa for a while and, improbably, ended up playing in the D&B room at a huge rave in Joburg train station (I had an inbuilt advantage as D&B was hard to get in South Africa back then).

As well as playing in Johannesburg Station, Atkins also played a set at Pretoria's Oppikoppi music festival in South Africa.

Mr Atkins said that, while living in South Africa, he also worked the decks during a 'huge rave' inside Johannesburg train station. Whilst in the country, he also performed at Pretoria's 'Oppi Koppi' festival

Mr Atkins, who grew up in Cornwall, started 'going to raves' and listening to 'hardcore' Drum and Bass music in the 1990s.

One image he shared showed him wearing a high-viz jacket with a friend after a 'long night' at the 'Helter Skelter' rave in Milton Keynes, Buckingamshire, in 1997.

He said he began DJing at a similar time after being inspired by DJs including 'LTJ Bukem', whose real name is Daniel Williamson.

Milton Keynes's 'Helter Skelter' event was held at The Sanctuary music venue (pictured)

A poster for the 1994 Helter Skelter event. The Sanctuary was famous for holding enormous raves from 1991 onwards

Milton Keynes's 'Helter Skelter' event was held at The Sanctuary music venue, which was knocked down in 2004. An IKEA branch has since been built in its place.

The Sanctuary was famous for holding enormous raves from 1991 onwards. An estimated 750,000 people are said to have visited the venue, which could hold 9,000 people at a time.

Last year, an exhibition commemorating the rave hotspot opened in Milton Keynes's MK Gallery.

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