HER STORY Stephanie Hirst, 39, DJ
I grew up listening to Tony Blackburn. I used to get his autobiography out of the local library. He was out on the pirate radio ships and then he helped to launch Radio 1. He’s a living legend. A few years ago I was on a trip to Australia and he was on the same flight. My producer had the seat next to Tony and swapped with me because he knew I was such a big fan. We chatted all the way; there was an instant rapport. His favourite song is “Love is the Answer” by England Dan and John Ford Coley, which is one of my favourites, too. We both like jingles and things like that which are not so fashionable these days.
We had a great time on that trip and have been close ever since – we speak often on the phone and we would see each other when he came up north. Last summer I told him that I was planning to transition and he was incredibly supportive from the get-go. He rang me up and sent me lots of wonderful texts. He was there all the way for me.
I found after doing breakfast radio for 15 years and dealing with gender dysphoria I was exhausted and needed a break. Being trangender is like someone constantly poking you in the arm, and being on air is mentally draining, too. But Tony and I are radio nuts – I call him my radio dad – and I’m sure we’ll both be doing it until we die. It has been amazing to have one of my heroes be so supportive. I hope that by having done it publicly, I can inspire other people to be themselves. I have amazing respect for Tony’s energy and versatility – he still gets up at a quarter to five, and he does so many shows. He still schedules all the music and he has a real sense of humour.
Stephanie is a mentor for the Change One Thing campaign on Lorraine, weekdays, on ITV1 at 8.30am
HIS STORY Tony Blackburn, 72, DJ
Simon and I just got on very well. I was working at KCFM in Hull, and we would go out to Pizza Hut when I was staying up there and chat about music.
We were both soul fans, although Simon was more into vinyl than I was. He never told me I was a hero of his – it’s very flattering. I knew he liked the programmes I was doing, but I thought he was doing great work as well.
I had no idea that Simon was unhappy being Simon. I didn’t spot anything. In some ways it’s a shame she’s taken so long to do it because she has obviously worried about this secret her whole life, but I can understand why, particularly in the north of England where people aren’t so used to it. But I don’t see how Simon becoming Stephanie should cause any problems to anyone.
When I found out I called her up straight away. I wanted to give her my support. I know she originally wanted to go through the whole process live on air, but she and the radio station where she was working, decided against it. In a funny way I can see that it might be difficult if your voice has changed, but Stephanie can also be an inspiration to others going through the same thing. Lots of people have said how nice it is to have someone public going through the same process.
Stephanie looks terrific. Some people can have difficulties because they look a bit too big, but Stephanie looks fantastic. The first time I saw her I thought: “That’s not the Simon I knew,” but then I spoke to her and realised that it was exactly the same person underneath.
It was just her attitude that was a bit different: more feminine, and much happier.
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