“All I’m hoping is that his spirit joins me on air.”
Lottie Ryan is set to take over her late father Gerry Ryan’s radio slot next month.
The broadcaster and Dancing With The Stars winner will take over her dad’s former 2FM slot from August, covering for Jennifer Zamparelli.
Lottie told The Sun that she will be working from her dad’s old studio, nicknamed The Gerry Suite, from next month.
“I’m trying not to think about it too much. Doing my dad’s show in his old studio,” she said.
“All I’m hoping is that his spirit joins me on air and I find the words to do what made him so popular with the whole country.”
Lottie added that she fears her mother will start phoning into the show, as she used to do when Gerry was on the air.
“I’m afraid of mum doing that. If she does, I will kill her,” she said. “Because she regularly texts in when I’m on air, saying, ‘You’re doing great Lottie’.
“But she doesn’t text my mobile, she texts the general show text number so all the team see it on the system.”
Gerry Ryan joined 2FM at its inception in 1979, later moving on to present his own programme, The Gerry Ryan Show.
He was married to wife Morah for 26 years, with whom he had five children including Lottie. He passed away in 2010.
Lottie, now 33, was recently named as the ambassador for this year’s Fertility Awareness Week.
The theme of this year’s week is #BeKindWithYourWords, a campaign that aims to educate people about how seemingly innocent questions about fertility can often be harmful.
“I think the campaign will resonate with a lot of women who have been faced with fertility issues or feel pressure to start a family because they have reached a certain age,” said Lottie.
“Fertility is often a taboo subject and over the next week we hope to initiate a conversation online about fertility to educate and empower others.”
Lottie will cover for Zamparelli on 2FM from August.
