Will Goodhand, a contestant on Channel 4’s 'Beauty and the Geek' is to join national digital radio station, Core, as the presenter of a new Monday night show. Beginning on January 22nd at 10pm, Will’s weekly show will feature two hours of funny stories, observations and guests.
Will beat thousands of hopefuls to become Core’s ‘Face for Radio’ in a national talent competition where one lucky listener could become a Core presenter. The catch was that people could not enter themselves — listeners could only enter their friends or colleagues.
Technical radio skills were not required — it was all about the talent a friend can spot. Out of ten finalists, a few had dabbled in student radio or other media but most had no radio experience.
The station held hundreds of online ‘auditions’ via email, followed by phone interviews for the most promising candidates. The finalists created Myspace pages from where they completed weekly challenges to learn presenter skills and use them on air and online to entertain listeners.
Over 8,000 Core listeners signed up as friends on the Myspace pages during the finals. Each week, the two finalists with the least online friends battled against each other to avoid elimination from the competition. The most regular participant, earning him his ‘bullet dodger’ nickname, was Will Goodhand, showing that his TV fame was not necessarily winning him support.
The last six finalists were tasked with using their newly acquired skills to promote charity Fairbridge, a charity operating in 19 cities across the UK to build the confidence and skills of young adults at risk of dropping into homelessness, long term unemployment, addiction or crime. Finalists raised £3,000 on justgiving.com, the charity equivalent of Myspace. Will became one of the top 4 fundraisers, earning a place in the last stage of the competition.
In the final round, four contenders learnt how to produce and present their own podcasts. Will’s witty self-made podcasts grew to attract thousands of online downloads, gaining him a fan base which supported him in the final challenge — his first ever radio show, live for two hours on a national radio station, entirely self produced. Will’s friends and fans supported him to beat a polished student radio presenter with experience and a lot of potential.
Speaking about his new show on Core, Will Goodhand said: “I never dreamt that I could win this competition. It’s an amazing opportunity that I’m really going to make the most of. To be given a regular slot on Core following a successful first show is a great confidence booster. Thanks to all my supporters who helped me get through this!”
Bern Leckie, Core’s Programme Manager said: “Will is an incredibly likeable person and a witty, unique character. He doesn’t sound like anyone else on the radio, but he has a talent with story telling that thousands of listeners have warmed to. Now Core listeners have demanded that he comes back with a regular show, and I’m looking forward to working with him to make him a radio star in 2007.”
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