BBC Radio show descends into chaos as guest fails to show up
A BBC local radio show was thrown into chaos after a key guest failed to appear and baffled listeners waited for answers. Liz Ellis was hosting her usual weekend programme from 10am to 2pm across BBC Radio Stoke, BBC Radio Shropshire and BBC Radio Hereford & Worcester - a slot that includes a popular live gardening phone-in. But when the phones opened from 1pm to 2pm on Sunday, the expert gardener due to answer listeners' questions was nowhere to be seen.
Garden designer Zudenic Valco had been scheduled to join the programme, but at the start of the segment it quickly became clear something had gone wrong. Ellis was forced to explain live on air that the guest was unable to join, with early indications suggesting technical difficulties. With callers already lining up to ask about spring planting, bulbs and soil prep, the presenter was left scrambling to find a replacement - all while the show continued.
After an awkward start, help eventually arrived in the form of Ros Bissell, from Moors Meadow in Herefordshire, a familiar voice to regular listeners who has appeared on the programme in the past.
Bissell stepped in to rescue the hour, fielding questions on daffodils, crocuses, bulbs and general soil-based dilemmas, allowing the phone-in to continue despite the earlier disruption. Listeners can hear the full episode again on BBC Sounds.
The on-air hiccup comes as the BBC continues to face wider turbulence across its radio output - with a separate presenter absence confirmed elsewhere in the corporation this week.
BBC Radio Scotland host Kaye Adams will not be returning to her programme Mornings With, following an internal complaint that saw her taken off air last year.
Adams, 63, said in October that her name had been "dragged through the mud" and claimed the corporation had not provided her with details of the allegations made against her.
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Reports have since claimed that some complaints against Adams were upheld, while others were rejected. The BBC has declined to comment on individual cases or internal processes.
A spokesman for BBC Scotland said: "With regard to the presentation line up on Mornings With, Kaye Adams will not be returning to this role.
"In the immediate future Connie McLaughlin will continue to present Mornings With on Mondays to Wednesdays, with Stephen Jardine presenting on Thursdays and Fridays."
Adams, who was born in Falkirk, has worked as a journalist and broadcaster for nearly four decades. She joined BBC Scotland in 2010 to front Call Kaye, before later hosting The Kaye Adams Show and Mornings With. She has also been a regular panellist on ITV's Loose Women.
The shake-up follows the launch of the BBC's Call it Out scheme last year, introduced after an independent review into workplace culture at the corporation.