Jason King (né Griffiths) and Joel Ross (né Hogg), known professionally as JK and Joel, were a radio presenting duo, best known for hosting the official UK chart on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

between 2005 and 2007 and presented the

CBBC CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...

shows '' Hider in the House'' and '' Remote Control Star''. In August 2012, JK & Joel confirmed they had split.

Radio career

Viking FM

The two first worked together at Viking FM in Kingston upon Hull from 1996 when Ross joined the station from Yorkshire Coast Radio to present the overnight programme. King was hosting the afternoon show at the time. In 1998 King took over the breakfast show and Ross, who was on the afternoon programme, later began reading the travel bulletins on the show, as a punishment for turning up late. Despite not getting along at first (King heatbutted Ross, breaking his nose), eventually the two were paired up as co-hosts and together they won two Gold Sony Radio Academy Awards for 'Breakfast Show Of The Year' and a Silver for 'Entertainment Show'.

Key 103

They left Viking FM to join

Key 103 Hits Radio Manchester, formerly Key 103, is an Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Greater Manchester. As of September 2024, the station has a weekly ...

in Manchester in 2000, taking over from Mike Toolan as hosts of the breakfast show where they won a further 3 Sony radio awards, Gold for UK best breakfast show, Silver for UK's best presenters and Bronze for the competition award. Joel was sacked from Key 103 after turning up three hours late for work, agreeing to join BBC Radio 1 towards the end of 2003. JK saw out the remainder of his contract with Key 103, presenting the breakfast show alone before joining Radio 1 in 2004. However, Joel came back to present their final breakfast show together.

BBC Radio 1

They went on to join BBC Radio 1 in Spring of 2004. They initially hosted a weekend afternoon programme before moving to the Radio 1 Chart show in March 2005. They also presented the early breakfast show every Monday – Thursday from 4am to 7am replacing Nemone Metaxas who left to join

BBC Radio 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It primarily plays a wide range of alternative music, from established and emerging artists and bands. In 2002 it was the first national music radio station t ...

. They did not host the early breakfast show on a Friday, to compensate for their Sunday chart show and TV commitments, being replaced by Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates of ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

'' fame. They were let go from Radio One in late 2007, during a large presenter shake-up at the station.

Virgin / Absolute Radio

They quickly joined the national radio station Virgin Radio to present their 10am1pm slot at weekends, but left the station in the later part of 2008 following the radio stations take over and subsequent rebranding as

Absolute Radio Absolute Radio is a British digital radio station owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Absolute Radio Network. It broadcasts nationally across the UK via digital audio broadcasting. The station focuses on alternative ...

Radio Aire and return to Key 103

JK and Joel made a return to radio in early 2009, covering shows on Manchester's Key 103 and Leeds' Radio Aire. In July 2009, it was announced that the duo would permanently take over the breakfast show from Simon Logan on Radio Aire. The pair signed a contract for two years. They made their debut on 20 July 2009 and left the station on 20 July 2011.

Bauer Radio

They also presented ''JK and Joel's Saturday Night Thing'' on some Bauer Place stations until July 2011.

Global Radio

In August 2011, JK and Joel signed to the Global Group, working on separate stations including Heart and Capital.

Television career

As presenters

In February 2007 the two men became presenters of the award-winning

show '' Hider in the House'', where a celebrity has to be hidden in a house, without one parent finding out. The show ran for 4 series and was the channel's most watched show. Also in February 2007, JK and Joel appeared on Virgin Media TV channel 999, 'Virgin iD', introducing the new features of the cable service. On 7 July 2007, JK and Joel launched on ITV with their new show music quiz show '' Sing It Back: Lyric Champion''. Between 2008 and 2009, the pair presented series 2 and 3 of '' Escape from Scorpion Island'' on ABC in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. They hosted the first series of '' My Camp Rock'' on the

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

in the UK and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in 2009. Their TV show '' Remote Control Star'' launched on BBC in early 2011. From November 2011, the duo started presenting for Flirt!TV on Tour – a weekly mini series following different nights out at universities around the country. They have also hosted programmes for

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...

and Men & Motors. JK and Joel have presented ''Playboyz'', a fast-moving gadget series for Granada Men and Motors, and ''Motor Maniacs'', a series dedicated to men obsessed with bikes and cars. They have been the hosts of ''Pure Soap'' on

, a daily 30-minute live show looking at all things to do with

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

As contestants

Ross distinguished himself by winning Channel 5's 2005 ''

Britain's Worst Celebrity Driver ''Britain's Worst Driver'' was a British television series created and hosted by ex-''Top Gear'' host Quentin Willson made by Mentorn airing between 2002 and 2005 on Channel 5 (UK), Five. The show was mostly filmed at Millbrook Proving Ground i ...

'' competition on 25 September 2005, despite the best efforts of JK, his co-driver. In January 2006, the duo won a "celebrity pairings" edition of ''

The Weakest Link ''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which The Weakest Link (British game show), first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host ...

'', raising £12,900 for the Five Stars Scanner Appeal, a children's

charity Charity may refer to: Common meanings * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...

they had supported while working in Manchester. In March 2006 JK took part in Channel 4's final series of The Games coming in third place for the men. In 2011, the double act appeared as guests on CBBC's 'Hacker Time'.

Other work

In 2010 JK and Joel presented Party in the Park Leeds in front of 70,000 people and live on

Radio Aire Radio Aire was an Independent Local Radio station, serving Leeds and West Yorkshire. The station was merged and relaunched as Greatest Hits Radio West Yorkshire, as part of a rebrand, on 1 September 2020. History Radio Aire was launched a ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jk And Joel British radio DJs British radio personalities Entertainer duos BBC Radio 1 presenters Virgin Radio (UK)