James Whale (presenter)
English radio and television presenter (1951–2025)
Michael James Whale (13 May 1951 – 4 August 2025) was a British radio personality, television presenter and podcaster who gained initial prominence in the 1980s as the host of The James Whale Radio Show on Radio Aire in Leeds, which was simulcast on national television.
From 1995 to 2008 he hosted a night-time radio show on Talksport, followed by stints on LBC 97.3 and various BBC radio stations. Whale was the host of the podcast The James Whale Show and a night-time weekly radio show on talkRADIO. Whale was known as a presenter who was controversial and outspoken. In 2008, he was suspended by Talksport for urging listeners to vote for Boris Johnson in the upcoming London mayoral election. In 2018 he was suspended by talkRADIO pending an investigation for appearing to ridicule a guest, the journalist Nichi Hodgson, who was speaking on air about her experience of sexual assault. He was later reinstated.
He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to broadcasting and charity.
Early life
Michael James Whale was born on 13 May 1951 in Ewell, Surrey, into "an ordinary middle class family". His English father, David, worked in the family business S&R Whale, which made dresses, aprons and overalls in a factory in Brixton, London. His Welsh mother, Anne (née Price), was a professional ballet dancer.
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Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6145366. VIAF identifies the subject as 29043243. The Library of Congress control number is nb2003048493. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1951, 2025, 1995 and 2008.
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This entry incorporates text from “James Whale (presenter)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.