Shaun William Keaveny (born 14 June 1972) is a British broadcaster who presented the Breakfast Show on radio station

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 ...

for 11 years, and the afternoon show for a further three years.

Early life and education

Keaveny grew up on the Higher Folds housing estate in

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staffor ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. He attended St Mary's Catholic High School, Astley and then Trinity and All Saints College in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

Career

Keaveny joined 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 ...

and presented the weekday afternoon show (Monday-Thursday) and the Friday breakfast show on XFM London until 2006. Keaveny joined

in 2007 and presented its late evening show until April 2007. He began presenting the BBC 6 Music Breakfast Show on 2 April 2007. He also substitutes for a range of presenters on

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 ...

. The show was originally presented by

Phill Jupitus Phillip Christopher Jupitus (, ''Given name#Name at birth, né'' Swan; born 25 June 1962) is a retired English stand-up comedy, stand-up and Improv comedy teacher, improv comedian, actor, performance poetry, performance poet, cartoonist and podc ...

, who had hosted the show since the station's inception in March 2002. The show had regular music news updates from presenter Matt Everitt and Georgie Rogers. Brian Cox was a regular contributor to the show. Keaveny's first book, ''R2D2 lives in Preston'' was published in November 2010. It is a compilation of little known facts relating to various towns throughout the United Kingdom, advised by listeners to his radio show in a feature entitled ''Toast the Nation''. On 16 February 2013, Keaveny took part in the fifth series of ''

Let's Dance for Comic Relief ''Let's Sing and Dance'', formerly known as ''Let's Dance'', is a British television programme shown on BBC One, featuring celebrities performing famous dance routines to raise money for the charities Comic Relief and Sport Relief. The programme ...

'' as a member of ''Destiny's Dad'' alongside fellow stand-up comedians

Hal Cruttenden Hal Dominic Bart Cruttenden (born 9 September 1969) is an English stand-up comedian, actor, presenter, and writer. Early life Hal Dominic Bart Cruttenden was born in the Ealing district of London on 9 September 1969. His grandmother, Cynthia Co ...

and

Mark Dolan Mark Dolan (born 17 March 1974) is an English presenter and comedian. He has hosted various shows on UK television, including '' Balls of Steel'' for Channel 4 2005 until 2008 and the self titled ''Mark Dolan Tonight'' and ''Friday Night Live w ...

. It was announced in August 2018 that Keaveny would move from his weekday BBC 6 Music breakfast show, to the Radcliffe and Maconie weekday afternoon slot in January 2019. Keaveny hosted his final Breakfast Show live from the

Maida Vale Studios Maida Vale Studios is a complex of seven BBC sound studios, of which five are in regular use, in Delaware Road, Maida Vale, west London. It has been used to record thousands of classical music, popular music and drama sessions for BBC Radio 1, ...

on 14 December 2018 as part of the BBC 6 Music All Day Christmas Party. The Channel 5 series '' The Mega Council Estate Nextdoor'' aired in September 2020 was narrated by Keaveny. In June 2021, he announced that he would be leaving 6 Music in September 2021 after 14 years at the station saying "Things change, places change, people change, and it's time for a change." His final 6 Music show was on 10 September 2021. After leaving BBC 6 Music he set up Community Garden Radio, an internet service which sees Keaveny broadcast a live show every Wednesday, and started a podcast called ''Creative Cul De Sac'' about people's unrealised ideas, as well as hosting ''The Line-Up'', discussing guests' dream festivals. Since April 2022 Keaveny has presented the BBC Radio 4 show ''Your Place or Mine with Shaun Keaveny'', on Saturday mornings where, with a co-presenter, guests from around the world try to convince him to visit the places they come from. Keaveny has provided cover for several shows on

since leaving 6Music. In August 2021, March 2022 and October 2024, he presented the Saturday teatime show, covering for

Liza Tarbuck Liza Tarbuck ( ; born 21 November 1964) is an English actress, comedian, and television and radio presenter. Early life Liza Tarbuck was born in Liverpool and grew up near Kingston upon Thames. She is the daughter of comedian Jimmy Tarbuck an ...

. He presented Mark Radcliffe's Folk Show for 10 weeks in early 2024 while Radcliffe took a break. He covered

Rob Beckett Robert Anthony Beckett (born 2 January 1986) is an English comedian, actor, and presenter. He was a co-host on the ITV2 spin-off show '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! NOW!'' from 2012 to 2014. Since 2016, Beckett has been a team captain ...

's Sunday evening show for two weeks in October and November 2024. He took over presenting the Friday night Rock Show from

Johnnie Walker Johnnie Walker is a brand of Scotch whisky produced by Diageo in Scotland. It was established in the Scottish burgh of Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire in 1820, and continued to be produced and bottled at the town's Hill Street plant, once the world's ...

on 1 November 2024.

Personal life

Keaveny is married, and a father to two sons and a daughter.

References

External links

*
''The Rock Show with Shaun Keaveny''
(BBC Radio 2)
''Your Place or Mine with Shaun Keaveny''
(BBC Radio 4) {{DEFAULTSORT:Keaveny, Shaun English radio DJs English radio personalities British television personalities English people of Irish descent Living people 1972 births People from Leigh, Greater Manchester Alumni of Leeds Trinity University BBC Radio 6 Music presenters BBC Radio 2 presenters 21st-century English people