Former BBC Radio 1 colleagues Nick Grimshaw and Annie Macmanus are coming back to the broadcasting corporation to host a new flagship weekly music podcast, the BBC announced.
The new podcast titled Sidetracked with Annie and Nick is launching on 28 September and will feature Grimshaw and Macmanus talking about the world of music insights from friends, artists and industry experts. The podcast also features artwork and audio imagery from music industry experts – creative design studio Studio Moross and singer-songwriter A.K. Paul, respectively.
“I’m dead excited to be working with Grim again,” said Macmanus. “He is one of my oldest friends and together with a top BBC production team, I think we’re going to make something really authentic and fun – an essential listen for all fans of music and music culture. I can’t wait to get stuck in.”
“I’m so excited to be able to spend time together discussing the week in music, from the sublime to the ridiculous,” said Grimshaw.
Grimshaw previously worked at the BBC for 14 years, hosting several shows for BBC Radio 1 including the Breakfast Show from 2012 to 2021. Similarly, Macmanus presented several flagship music shows on BBC Radio 1 for 17 years before leaving in 2021, a couple of months before Grimshaw’s departure.
Since leaving the BBC, both Grimshaw ventured into the podcasting world with Waitrose’s hit branded podcast Dish, co-hosting alongside Michelin-star chef Angela Hartnett. Macmanus also hosts her own independent podcast titled Changes, which launched in 2019 and features her speaking to artists, writers, musicians and a range of other people about change.
In an interview with The Guardian, Grimshaw and Macmanus said that podcasting allows them more freedom than radio to say whatever they want and to set the tone without being restricted.
“All of the things I didn’t miss about having a radio show – being part of someone else’s agenda, the time involved, and all of the things that started feeling a bit too much – this is the opposite of that,” Macmanus told The Guardian. “It’s not attached to any network or any radio station specifically. We will talk about, say, Kate Bush. It’s not just youth music.”
