BBC Radio’s Jo Whiley reveals the two music icons who left her feeling ‘tiny and stupid’

Not all celebrity interactions leave you with a warm fuzzy feeling – as Jo Whiley knows only too well after one ‘really unpleasant experience’.

The radio presenter revealed how, when she once interviewed Eminem and Dr Dre, she left with her confidence in pieces.

Speaking about being starstruck on her Dig It podcast with Zoe Ball, the Radio 2 star, 60, shared details of the ‘horrible’ interview.

‘I remember interviewing Eminem and Dr Dre one time and that was horrible,’ she began.

‘I’d interviewed Eminem when he was very young and he was very shy and polite. He kept calling me “ma’am” all the time and he was really, really sweet and humble.’

However, once fame had hit around the beginning of the 00s, Marshall Mathers became less timid and seemingly less pleasant.

Jo shared: ‘A couple of years later he came back on the show but with Dr Dre and the fame had happened and he was just this other creature altogether. 

‘They were just so playful with me – and can I just say they made me feel so tiny and so stupid.’

The interaction ‘stands out’ among all Jo’s other interviews as she ‘did not enjoy that’ but admitted outside of music she does sometimes get starstruck.

Monty Don, broadcaster and horticulturalist, sprang to mind as someone she was keen to impress as well as Dame Mary Berry and Will Ferrell.

‘You can have a normal conversation with Paul Weller but can you speak to Mary Berry without tripping over your words? No you cannot,’ she laughed.

Jo has previously opened up about struggling with anxiety during her career, particularly in the 90s when she was DJing.

Speaking to Women’s Health, she shared: ‘I remember doing one gig and I was just so scared, I thought I can’t go on like this. This is ridiculous. 

‘It’s ruining my life because I’m just such a ball of anxiety. 

‘But then I realised how happy it was making people when I do these gigs and that was a game changer.’

She called it a ‘ludicrous’ time to be a woman as ‘objectification and judgement of women and their bodies’ was rife.

‘I just kept my head down and weathered the storm,’ Jo added.

Metro has reached out to Dr Dre and Eminem’s reps for comment.

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