Nick Grimshaw begins presenting Radio 1 breakfast show

A "nervous and excited" Nick Grimshaw took over Radio 1's Breakfast Show on Monday morning.

The 28-year-old DJ replaced Chris Moyles after the end of his eight-and-a-half-year stint.

Grimshaw welcomed listeners to a "brand new breakfast show" saying it was "quite a surreal day" that he has been "dreaming about" since he was a child.

"I'm excited and nervous and just want to get on with it... let's get on with it," he said.

The presenter, known to fans as Grimmy, kicked off the show by playing Paris by Jay-Z and Kanye West, adding: "This is the sort of music I want to play - big pop songs which are good."

'Aglee to wake and hear you'

Guests on the show included Harry Styles from British boy band, One Direction, and a pre-recorded interview with Canadian superstar Justin Bieber.

Doctor Who star Matt Smith phoned into the programme, saying: "I was aglee to wake up and hear you in the morning, many congratulations mate".

After playing How We Do (Party) by Rita Ora as his third track, Grimshaw said: "Is that the hard bit over? Think it's going to be fun from now on."

The host, who admits he struggles with early mornings, said he set two alarms to make sure he got up and revealed "it was like the first day of school, I laid my clothes out (before I went to bed)".

Grimshaw took over Radio 1's popular show following pressure on the station's controller, Ben Cooper to attract a younger audience.

Bosses hope Grimshaw, who is 10 years younger than Moyles, will attract more listeners from its target audience of 16 to 24-year-olds.

With Moyles at the helm, Radio 1's audience peaked at 7.9 million in 2010, but listenership has dropped to 6.93 million in recent months.

As part of the overhaul, Grimshaw is tasked with playing twice as many songs as his notoriously talkative predecessor, but he didn't quite meet the challenge on his debut.

Over the course of the three-and-a-half-hour show, Grimshaw played 25 tracks while 16 songs featured in Moyles' final programme.

The tunes were a mix of those on the Radio 1 playlist, including the current UK number one from The Script, Hall of Fame; Million Voices by Otto Knows and AlunaGeorge's Your Drums, Your Love.

Fellow DJs on show

Others included Cheryl's Under The Sun and Play Hard by David Guetta.

During the show Grimshaw joked that bosses also told him they want producers to have more "gravitas" and influence over the show.

Born in Manchester and brought up in Oldham, Grimshaw began working at the BBC in 2007 when he co-presented a new weekly music show, Sound, with Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac.

He joined Radio 1 in 2008 as the weekend breakfast show host before taking over the 22:00 to midnight slot in June 2009 following the departure of Colin Murray.

Grimshaw revealed that guests on this week's show will include Strictly contestant and Olympic gymnast Louis Smith, actress Emma Watson and the American singer songwriter Alicia Keys.

Towards the end of the programme, fellow Radio 1 DJs Zane Lowe, Scott Mills and Fearne Cotton joined Grimshaw, with Mills joking: "The features go on for ages, but it's great."

Grimshaw signed off at 10:00 thanking listeners for a "great first show".