1Xtra: Reece Parkinson leaves BBC radio station after six years

How do you plan the perfect leaving present for a colleague?

When that colleague is a massive Fulham FC fan like 1Xtra DJ Reece Parkinson, you bring in the big guns.

So BBC Newsbeat invited team captain Tom Cairney to gatecrash Reece's last interview with us before his final show.

We're sure it was one of the highlights of Reece's broadcasting career, but the biggest? There might be some competition there.

Reece, who hosts his final show later, has spent the last two years hosting 1Xtra's primetime drive slot. But things almost turned out very differently.

Rewind to 2020 - the height of the coronavirus pandemic - and, like most of us, Reece was eyeing an escape once restrictions started to ease.

"I was going to move to Barcelona. That was my plan," he says.

Reece, who was presenting 1Xtra Talks on Sunday nights at the time, said he'd got it all mapped out.

Keep his weekend gig, spend the rest of the week in Barcelona "scrape by, work a bar job", and travel back to his studio for the show.

He'd got as far as looking at flats when he got a call from his bosses.

"Do you want to do the drive-time show?"

The late afternoon slot is one that most radio DJs dream of landing - it draws big audiences and A-list guests.

So of course, Reece said yes.

Beast Mode: Reece Parkinson was known for his interviews as well as his playlist

But a big-time gig is a challenge, and Reece also had to deal with broadcasting during a pandemic - something he says brought him closer to the 1Xtra audience.

"It definitely made me more empathetic," he says.

"You think the audience is just going to really enjoy the show because of the music and the content that we make to try and entertain you.

"But really, you're allowed to go on air and talk about how you feel as well. And I think the feeling is what really builds a community and grows an audience."

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Reece, who joined 1Xtra in 2016, says his time on the station has changed him as a broadcaster, but it also changed his life in another big way.

He got the drive-time gig the same year he started training for an ultra-marathon for a Newsbeat documentary.

Just days before he was due to run, he got a shock diagnosis of type 1 diabetes, forcing him to pull out.

But, six months later, he got back into training and managed to complete a brutal 50-mile race.

"We've all been through kind of harsh and kind of sad realities in our life," he says.

"And when you're in it, it's horrible. You don't want to go through it. But going through that gives you something to look back on and hold on to when you're trying to get through something else."

Reece has used his show to talk about the condition, raising awareness of it, and says having it has taught him the value of patience.

It's also contributed to his next career move, which he recently announced in a Twitter thread would take him into the world of science.

1Xtra was set up to champion black music and culture, and Reece says he was inspired to join the station by trailblazing DJs like Trevor Nelson.

Reece describes people like Trevor - who recently featured in Stormzy's video for Mel Made Me Do It - as his "broadcasting heroes".

"That's someone that I used to watch when when I was a kid, and to get to be on the same stations as him is a real privilege.

"And to meet so many incredible artists that we champion, and most importantly, the amazing audience that we reached."

And Reece has some advice for any of his fans who might want to follow in his footsteps.

"Just manifest your destiny really," he says.

"If it feels like it's flowing and it feels like your intuition is telling you to do something, then do it. If it feels right, usually nine times out of 10 it is right.

"You have to follow the dream that you have in the life that you want for yourself, and that's what you have to go for."

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