Sheffield celebrity spotter secures spot on national radio

Bruce Davis, aged 50, spends his days working at the city's Maxon’s sweet factory.

However, in his spare time likes nothing more than tracking down the rich and famous.

His passion for celebrity spotting started from a young age and it is a hobby he still loves to this day, now turning it into something he can share with hundreds of other people.

It was before he started his shift at his full-time job, where he has been for 17 years this year, that his pastime took a different twist.

He says: “I saw online last September that Union JACK Radio was wanting listeners to take part in its breakfast show.

“They invited anyone with silly ideas to come forward for a future segment on the show.

“I sent a message saying that I collect autographs and they asked me to take part as a regular feature.”

The radio station not only put together a jingle for Bruce, recorded by Tom Rosenthal, but have printed him his very own “Bruce on the Loose” business cards.

Since starting at Union JACK, Radio Bruce has collected more than 30 star messages from all sorts of celebrities - from former Blue Peter presenter Peter Duncan to TV star and comedian Richard Blackwood.

Other celebrites Bruce has met include musician and TV presenter Jools Holland, reality TV star Amelia Lily, who finished third on the eighth series of The X Factor in 2011 and runner-up on Celebrity Big Brother six years later, and actor, singer and television presenter Darren Day.

The furthest Bruce has travelled to collect a message is to Nottingham where he tracked down TV legend Johnny Ball, father of radio presenter Zoe Ball.

Bruce, of Woodseats, says that, so far, he thinks the best one has been Harry Redknapp, who he met during a visit to Sheffield University.

His ultimate goal is to meet Australian superstar Kylie Minogue.

The Bruce on the Loose cards are handed to the celebs so they know what is happening when they are approached, and he then takes a photograph with them holding one.

On one side the cards say: “Union JACK Radio. The home of great British comedy. Union what?

“We’re a silly national radio station celebrating the best British radio and comedy! Think of us as the Dave of radio!”

The other side says: “You’ve been stalked by Bruce on the Loose.

“The official celebrity stalker on The Full English breakfast show.”

Annabelle Buckland, known as ‘Producer Buckers’, works on The Full English breakfast show along with presenter Adam English.

She says: “Bruce got in touch with us last year when we very first launched our breakfast show The Full English, with Adam.

“The Full English is all about shining a spotlight on the listeners - they’re much funnier than we could ever hope to be, so it’s only right that they should take centre stage.

“We get very excited when they get involved with the show, and when Bruce told us he loves to meet celebrities in his spare time, we thought it would be great to get him to be the show’s official ‘celebrity stalker’, as we affectionately refer to him.

“Bruce was keen to take on the responsibility, so the feature ‘Bruce on the loose’ was born.”

“We have loads of fun with this feature – we love setting him challenges with weird questions to pose to the celebrities which are always entertaining.

“He records mini interviews with them and he can never resist a selfie with them if they have time.

“Bruce is a real part of the Full English family.

“We even made him his very own personalised business cards that he can hand out to celebrities.

“Probably the best thing about working with Bruce is that we enjoy talking to him more than we enjoy hearing from the celebrities he meets.

“We are happy to have their voices on the show, but Bruce has such a likeable personality we’re much more charmed by him than we are by the stars he pounces on.”

Anyone interested can catch previous broadcasts on unionjack.co.uk/shows/the-full-english/

Union JACK radio is a national DAB station.

It is also available online, on the Union JACK app and on smart speakers.

It was launched in September 2016, by the same team behind Absolute Radio.

In 2019, it became the fastest growing station in the UK.

Three weeks ago, it was nominated for best national station’ at the UK Audio and Radio Industry Awards (ARIAS), up against the likes of BBC Radio 2.

Presenter Adam tweeted his joy at the news via his account, @Adam_English_.

He said: “Get in! @unionjackradio is such a lovely special underdog of a station run by a full-time team of no more than six people. I’m so glad it’s been recognised like this. This station is really going places and I’m proud as hell to work for it.”

In another tweet sent to his followers earlier this year, Adam also said the show had become ‘the highlight of 2019 and probably [his] life’.

Annabelle says: “We’re nothing to do with politics or Brexit – we’re Mr Bean, not Mr Farage.

“The station is a national platform for comedy and comedians – big or small.”

“Some of the talent we’ve worked with includes Brian Blessed, Shappi Korsandi, Tom Rosenthal, Rosie Jones, Marcus Brigstocke, Tom Allen and Christopher Biggins.”

The Full English is on weekdays, from 7-9am.

You can listen in via the website https://www.unionjack.co.uk/, on your DAB radio, or via the Union JACK app.

Other popular shows on the station include:

Asking for a Friend with Mark Dolan, described as apanel show, answering the questions you never dared ask; Geoff Lloyd's Hometown Glory, where Britain's best-loved comedians and famous faces take a virtual trip down memory lane; Josh Berry's Fake News – Impressionist Josh Berry's new show is called “the most reliably unreliable news source”; One Night Stand, featuring stand-up comedy; Underdogs.

A station spokesman said: “We love supporting the underdogs of British music, so we made a show about it.

“Trouble is, we can only afford Lucy Leeds to present it. She knows nothing about presenting... or music... or anything, really – she's trying her hardest though.

“Shining a spotlight on the best new talent from this weird and wonderful island.

“Flick your knob to Union JACK Radio, Wednesdays from 7pm.”

The Union JACK team will find out if they have won the accolade at the ARIAS in a ceremony which will be hosted by Radio 1 Breakfast Show presenter Greg James at the London Palladium on Wednesday, March 4.

If you have an interesting hobby or pastime and think our readers might be interested then why not get in touch?

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