Edith Bowman has revealed she was left “speechless and upset” after feeling she was being “edged out” of her role at Radio 1.
The presenter was a DJ on the station between 2003 and 2014, hosting a variety of shows, including the mid-afternoon weekday slot with Colin Murray.
After Colin went on to present his own late-night slot, Edith continued to front the show solo until 2009, when she was moved to Weekend Breakfast.
She finally hosted the Tuesday evening Review Show from 2012 until her departure from Radio 1.
In an interview with Psychologies magazine, Edith opened up about her later years at the station, admitting she was “absolutely floored” when she was moved to less high-profile slots.
She said: “Lies and deceit are extremely strong words, but the discussions I’d been having with my boss at the time about my future were very far from what I was being told in the meeting.
“The conversation was the opposite of what I was expecting and it absolutely floored me. So I just felt incredibly let down because I’d given everything I had.
“At the time I was too speechless to and upset about it. [If it happened again] I’d definitely be more honest now about how I felt I’d been treated by the individuals in that room, and the lies I’d been told.”
She continued: “I would ask what had changed from the conversations we’d had up to that point.
“I knew that I was being edged out by Radio 1, but The Review Show ended up being one of the most joyous experiences I had in my time there.
“I think they saw something to give me as a demotion, was actually exactly what I’d been looking for. And so, when I did leave [in 2014], I left on a high.”
A spokesperson for Radio 1 said (via MailOnline): “As we said at the time, Edith was one of a number of departures announced in June 2014 to enable Radio 1 & 1Xtra to deliver some of the savings they were being asked to make as part of the wider BBC’s financial challenges following the Licence Fee settlement.”
After leaving Radio 1, Edith went on to host the Breakfast Show on the relaunched Virgin Radio, and now regularly pops up on BBC Radio 2 and fronts a BBC Sounds podcast with close friend Cat Deeley.
Read the full interview with Edith Bowman in Psychologies magazine, on sale now.