Radio Stations in Chaos as Vernon Kay and Ken Bruce Miss Shows Due to Train Breakdown

The airwaves were thrown into chaos on Tuesday morning, after two major radio presenters were late to their shows due to a broken down train.

BBC Radio 2 and Greatest Hits Radio were both forced to find stand-ins and make last-minute shake-ups their schedules after both Vernon Kay and Ken Bruce were caught up in the railway disruption.

Vernon, 51, was due to begin his Radio 2 slot at 9.30am, but failed to arrive after becoming ‘trapped’ on a broken down Chiltern Railways train in the sweltering heatwave.

Sara Cox, who is already standing in for Scott Mills, stepped in to take the reigns, extending the Breakfast Show for 30 more minutes and explaining the situation to listeners.

The DJ – who coincidentally also hails from Vernon’s hometown of Bolton – said: ‘Oh no, I’ve just realised I’m not gonna be in time for reformer Pilates.

‘If you just joined in and you’re thinking Vernon is sounding a little extra-manly today, don’t worry. It’s me: Sara, from the same area obviously, though famously. 

The airwaves were thrown into chaos on Tuesday morning, after two major radio presenters were late to their shows due to a broken down train

BBC Radio 2 and Greatest Hits Radio were both forced to find stand-ins and make last-minute shake-ups their schedules after both Vernon Kay and Ken Bruce (pictured in 2023) were caught up in the railway disruption

‘Vernon, poor Vernon stuck on a hot, sweaty train with no coffee, no air-con, no deodorant. So he’s going to get in at some point, hopefully.’

Vernon himself took to his Instagram Stories to lament the situation, sharing a selfie onboard the train with the caption: ‘The train isn’t training. Hang fire @djsaracox Send deodorant and coffee!’

As the delay stretched on, broadcaster Gary Davies took over from Sara at 10am to fill in for Vernon, telling listeners: ‘I was supposed to be teeing off around now, but it’s just going to have to wait. 

‘If you just tuned in and wondering were Vernon is, he was on his train like usual and the train broke down and so he has been in sweltering hot heat and they had to send a rescue train which also broke down.

‘He’s not going nowhere. And he’s still trying to get here. Will he make it or not? If you spot him let me know where he is.’ 

Vernon then sent several voice notes in to the show to play over the airwaves, where he expressed his gratitude towards ‘gentleman’ Gary for covering for him.

He said: ‘Hi Gary, it’s Vernon. I’m sat on a train, thanks very much for covering for me’ before asking his fellow stuck passengers to say hello.

He went on: ‘We are trapped on the train. We are still not in good spirits but we are trying Gary, we really are trying. All the best. You’re a gentleman. Have a great show.’

Vernon, 51, was due to begin his Radio 2 slot at 9.30am, but failed to arrive after becoming ‘trapped’ on a broken down Chiltern Railways train in the sweltering heatwave

Sara Cox, who is already standing in for Scott Mills, stepped in to take the reigns, extending the Breakfast Show for 30 more minutes and explaining the situation to listeners (seen)

Vernon then sent several voice notes in to the show to play over the airwaves, where he expressed his gratitude towards ‘gentleman’ Gary for covering for him (Gary seen in 2018) 

But it wasn’t only Vernon who was caught out by the railway chaos, with Ken, 74, also missing the start of his slot on his Greatest Hits Radio show.

The veteran broadcaster hosts the weekday from 10am to 1pm, but didn’t make it to the studio until 11.38am after also becoming trapped on the train.

Simon Ross stepped in to present the first 30 minutes, saying: ‘Ken was stuck on a train and will hopefully arrive in time for PopMaster’ before Claire Sturgess then took over.

Taking to his X account to apologise to listeners, Ken explained: ‘My apologies. Thanks to yet another broken down train from @chilternrailway I will be late on the show @greatesthitsuk this morning.

‘Second time in a month. And yes I do leave plenty of time to get in! Thanks to @rossie7dj for holding the fort!’

And fans couldn’t help but notice that both Ken and Vernon were facing the same battle and guess that the two radio stars were trapped on the same train in a ‘freak twist’, joking the pair could ‘have a catch-up’ or ‘carpool’.

Taking to the replies of Ken’s tweet, they joked: ‘Same with @vernonkay. Are you two planning a late cheeky breakfast together?’; ‘Is Vernon on the same train ?’

‘On the same train as @vernonkay by any chance?’; ‘Have you seen Vernon Kay, think he’s on the same train & is late in too.’

But it wasn’t only Vernon who was caught out by the railway chaos, with Ken, 74, also missing the start of his slot on his Greatest Hits Radio show (seen last year)

The veteran broadcaster hosts the weekday from 10am to 1pm, but didn’t make it to the studio until 11.38am after also becoming trapped on the train

‘You and Vernon on the same train !! Did you have a catch up ?!’; ‘Are you and @vernonkay on the same broken down train?’

‘You and @vernonkay should share a car!’; ‘I bet Vernon is on the same train!’; ‘You with Vernon kay he’s having a similar problem’.

‘Chiltern Railways certainly impacting our radio stations… Vernon and Ken both held up by Chiltern Trains’ pesky stock being utterly unfit for purpose.’ 

‘In a freak twist Vernon is probably on the same train…’; ‘@vernonkay must be on the same train #late’.

‘should carpool with vernon’; ‘Is @vernonkay on the same train? Because he’s also late for his show because of the train breaking down’.

‘I take it Ken’s stranded with Vernon? Are they playing ‘battle of the pop quizzes’ whilst banged up together?’

Adding credence to the suggestion, Vernon previously revealed in November 2023 that he and Ken take the same train to work each day and often bump into each other on the commute.

He told The Radio Times: ‘We take the same train every morning! He gets on a few stops further down the line but we bump into each other all the time – we say hello and have a chinwag’.  

The former Family Fortunes host famously took over Ken’s Radio 2 show, two months after Ken jumped ship to join commercial rival Greatest Hits Radio after hosting the same BBC slot since 1986.

 

And fans couldn’t help but notice that both Ken and Vernon were facing the same battle and guess that the two radio stars were trapped on the same train in a ‘freak twist’, joking the pair could ‘have a catch-up’ or ‘carpool’

Adding credence to the suggestion, Vernon previously revealed in November 2023 that he and Ken take the same train to work each day and often bump into each other on the commute (pictured on his show)

The former Family Fortunes host famously took over Ken’s Radio 2 show, two months after Ken jumped ship to join commercial rival Greatest Hits Radio after hosting the same BBC slot since 1986.

Previously he said he had left the BBC after three decades in the same slot because it was ‘time for a change’ and it felt ‘like the natural culmination of some planning I’ve been doing’.

But now Ken has revealed he decided to jump ship before he started to become ‘bitter and entrenched’, saying: ‘It was a long time and I thought I’m doing the same thing every day.

‘There was a point of saying that I can’t enthuse over all the new music I’m having to play as much as I could over the old music. And I didn’t want to get to the stage where I was badmouthing some of the music [or] pretending to like it.’

The father of six elaborated: ‘I certainly did think I’ve got a bit more to offer. I didn’t want to be declining over the next three or four years and still doing the same show, but everybody around me getting younger and thinking, “Am I the old bloke in the corner here?”

‘I was the youngster on the station and then almost overnight I became the veteran, and I didn’t want to become the old grump in the corner saying “things aren’t what they used to be”, or [to] any new idea say, “No, we tried that, didn’t work”, which does happen. I just felt I would get more bitter and entrenched.’

Ken added that the switch to Greatest Hits Radio had given him a new lease of life, insisting: ‘I do feel that it’s rejuvenated me to a certain extent. 

‘I loved working for the BBC. I think it’s a great institution. But maybe for the last couple of years I can’t be blamed for just trying something else.’