Laura Sayers
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Laura Margaret Busson (née Sayers; 11 October 1978) is
BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...
's Commissioning Executive and deputy to the Head of Station, Helen Thomas. She was well known for her former role as sidekick and Assistant Producer for
Scott Mills Scott Robert Mills (born 28 March 1973) is an English radio DJ, television presenter and occasional actor. He is best known for presenting the '' Scott Mills'' show on BBC Radio 1 from 2004 to 2022 and since then, on BBC Radio 2, where he has be ...
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 ...
. She later became the producer for ''
Greg James Gregory James Alan Milward (born 17 December 1985) is an English broadcaster and author. He has been a presenter on BBC Radio 1 since 2007, hosting shows including his old drive-time show and the station's flagship breakfast show. Since 201 ...
'', before leaving to join
Heart Yorkshire Heart Yorkshire (previously Real Radio Yorkshire) was a regional radio station owned by Communicorp UK and operated by Global as part of the Heart network. It broadcasts to South and West Yorkshire.York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
, England, where she was educated at
The Mount School, York The Mount School is a Private schools in the United Kingdom , private Quaker day and boarding school for girls ages 3–18, and a co-ed Junior School, located in York, York, England. The school was founded in 1785, and the current Head is Anna W ...
, Sayers later moved to
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
where she studied for 4 years achieving an MA hons in Theatre and English Language. This is where she had her first experiences in radio at student station Subcity Radio.University of Glasgow, "Choose Glasgow Our Faculties Apply to Glasgow", page 21,


Radio 1

Laura started at Radio 1 by applying for a BBC Talent production traineeship with Jocelin Stainer from
The Chris Moyles Show ''The Chris Moyles Show'' is the title given to two differing versions of a radio programme hosted by Chris Moyles, originally broadcast as '' Radio 1 Breakfast'' from 5 January 2004 to 14 September 2012, before transferring three years later ...
, near the end of the traineeship she started working on the
Scott Mills Scott Robert Mills (born 28 March 1973) is an English radio DJ, television presenter and occasional actor. He is best known for presenting the '' Scott Mills'' show on BBC Radio 1 from 2004 to 2022 and since then, on BBC Radio 2, where he has be ...
show. She is well known for public stunts which have involved trying to get an ASBO, as well as becoming Radio 1's unofficial vigilante against non permit holders parking in disabled parking spaces or people who do not clean up after their dogs. Laura also appeared on CNN after filming a comical audition to become P Diddy's personal assistant where she dances for him and says, "I loved your work at the Diana concert, you were a-maz-in, you touched me so much and if i'm your PA you can touch me when ever you want, all the time." As well as being an assistant, Laura occasionally produced shows for Scott Mills,
JK and Joel 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 between 2005 and 2007 and presented the CBBC shows '' Hider in ...
and
Sara Cox Sara Joanne Cyzer ( born 13 December 1974), better known as Sara Cox, is an English broadcaster and author. A presenter on BBC Radio 2, she has been hosting the station's drivetime show since January 2019. She previously presented BBC Radio 1's ...
. At the end of March 2008, Laura was promoted to a new position within Radio 1 as producer of
Fearne Cotton Fearne Cotton (born 3 September 1981) is an English broadcaster and author. She began her career in the late 1990s as a children’s television presenter for GMTV, CITV and CBBC. She went on to present various television shows, including ''To ...
and
Reggie Yates Reginald Yates (born 31 May 1983) is a British television presenter, actor, writer and director with a career spanning three decades on screen as an actor, television presenter and radio DJ. Yates played Leo Jones in ''Doctor Who'' and has wo ...
' weekend shows, which includes the official chart show. For a time she was the assistant producer of the
Nick Grimshaw Nicholas Peter Andrew Grimshaw (born 14 August 1984), nicknamed "Grimmy", is an English broadcaster and author. He became known for having hosted a variety of shows on BBC Radio 1. He is also known as a television presenter for his Channel 4 rol ...
show, Monday – Thursdays 10pm-midnight. She produced
Huw Stephens Huw Meredydd Stephens (born 25 May 1981) is a Welsh radio and television presenter, currently broadcasting on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 6 Music. Stephens founded the Sŵn music festival with John Rostron and the yearly s ...
' two Wednesday night shows and subsequently replaced producer Neil as Greg James' producer.


Laura's Diary

During October 2005, when the team were temporarily presenting ''The Chris Moyles Show'', Laura's sister Mary Sayers (now Jones) who had found Laura's teenage diaries in her bedroom at her family house in York, was asked to read the diaries out on air. The team decided to carry this feature on again when they next covered for Moyles during January 2006 and began Season 2, entitled "The College Years". This season consisted of many weird and rude codes, and the revelation of her love of her piano teacher in 1996. 'Laura's Diary' became such a hit with Scott's listeners, it was moved to the afternoon show. Season 3 saw Laura meet Ben from her brother's band Monster Sunshine. They tried for a relationship but subsequently she moved to Glasgow for university. In Season 4, Laura talks of troubles at university and the woes of attempting to have a long-distance relationship with Ben. The season ends with Ben dumping Laura by letter. Mills joked a couple of times during the readings that because Laura was "unlucky in love" he would make it his mission to help her. This led to the hit Radio 1 tour 'One Night With Laura' – an '
X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...
' style tour of the UK auditioning suitable boyfriends for Sayers.


One Night With Laura

Potential partners were asked to fill in a form on BBC Radio 1's website and, because of the success, in the last week of March 2006 a tour known as 'One Night with Laura' took place in
Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
,
Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...
,
Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
,
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...
and
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
. The contestants had to impress Laura, and a panel of judges, enough for those to decide that they were right for her. This included many strange occurrences such as a contestant lying on a bed of nails and asking Sayers to stand on his back. On the judging panel was Scott, Laura, her father Stephen and Mark "Chappers" Chapman. On the last two nights Chapman, who had other commitments, was replaced by Laura's sister, Mary Sayers, and
Jo Whiley Johanne Whiley-Morton (born 4 July 1965), better known professionally as Jo Whiley, is an English radio DJ and television presenter. She was the host of the long-running '' Jo Whiley Show'' on BBC Radio 1 and has since been presenting her weekd ...
. The auditionees came and went and were whittled down to just four partners from each of the auditions in Southampton, Cardiff, Nottingham and Newcastle (nobody qualified from Glasgow). These were Ben, James, Gareth and Shep. James was the first person to be voted out by the public. Each of the final three were paraded on Radio 1 over a week of breakfast shows, participating in tasks and taking part in interviews to try to win over their all important votes. The final took place on 2006-04-07 and saw Gareth from
Chard Chard (; '' Beta vulgaris'' subsp. ''vulgaris'', Cicla Group and Flavescens Group) is a green leafy vegetable. In the cultivars of the Flavescens Group, or Swiss chard, the leaf stalks are large and often prepared separately from the leaf b ...
win the public vote. Even though he won the overall competition, after he and Laura spent a weekend in Paris together, it was clear Sayers believed him more of a friend than a boyfriend. She later began dating one of the original contestants (whom she eventually married), James Busson from
Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...
. She'd earlier voiced her disappointment that James did not make it to the final.


Laura's Diary – The Book

Because of the success of the diary on Radio 1, Laura's Diary was released to the public as a book on Thursday 30 November 2006. It included entries not heard during the radio broadcasts.


Heart Radio

In July 2015 Laura left
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 ...
to work for
Heart Yorkshire Heart Yorkshire (previously Real Radio Yorkshire) was a regional radio station owned by Communicorp UK and operated by Global as part of the Heart network. It broadcasts to South and West Yorkshire.RAJAR Radio Joint Audience Research Limited (RAJAR; ) was established in 1992 to operate a single audience measurement system for the radio industry in the United Kingdom. RAJAR is jointly owned by the BBC and Radiocentre. RAJAR's predecessor was c ...
in August 2017. This was not only the highest figures for the station but also the highest reach ever recorded on the license.


Radio 2

In August 2020 Laura rejoined the BBC as
BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...
's Commissioning Executive and deputy to the Head of Station, Helen Thomas.


References


External links


Laura's "mini-site" at bbc.co.uk

Unofficial Laura

Laura's Diary on Amazon


Nick Grimshaw Mini-Site

Scott Mills Mini-Site

The Official Chart Show Website

Reggie Yates' Request Show {{DEFAULTSORT:Busson, Laura 1978 births Living people People from York People educated at The Mount School, York