This month, two students and two lecturers from Coleg Gwent’s Cwmbran Campus appeared on Radio One, hosted by Greg James to take on the weekly quiz.
Media lecturer, Angharad and Photography Lecturer, Sam teamed up with students Eve and Aimee to form the quiz team - ‘Third Floor’ (cleverly named after the floor, Eve and Aimee are taught on).
The quartet initially applied to appear on the show on a whim – with no one truly believing that the opportunity would become reality.
“I was able to get us on the quiz by sourcing the radio shows email and then emailing asking for them to feature us on air,” former KHS pupil, Eve, recalled.
“After finding out that we had been accepted, we were all very much in high spirits about the amazing opportunity.
“I think there was a lot of disbelief from our lectures with Angharad not believing it and Sam initially thinking it was a local quiz, to then panicking finding out it was national radio! Me and Aimee were very emotional (with me physically jumping up and down with excitement) at the disbelief that actual Radio One had accepted a small group of students and lecturers from South Wales to be on one of the biggest radio shows in the UK.
“Both of us also dream of working in the media, specifically radio, so we saw this as our opportunity for our first step on the ladder.”
Featured every week on the show, the quiz is focused on questions about current news over the course of a week.
“We all had a separate day to be on the radio being quizzed on things that happened the day before,” Eve explained.
“I was on Monday as Team Captain; Aimee was Tuesday; Angharad, Wednesday and Sam on Thursday.”
On the final day, the two quiz members that had scored the highest points on their respective day, took each other on to play their song choice on the radio.
As the highest scorer with 15 points, Aimee went head-to-head with Eve, who had come second with 14 points.
Indeed, the duo made such an impression on Greg, that he not only decided to play both song choices but to also keep them on air!
Eve said: “Even though me and Aimee were supposed to go head-to-head due to ‘our comedic value’, Greg James made the decision on air that because we made such an impression on him and the listeners, he would let us both win and keep us on for more airtime to entertain the morning listeners. This for us was astonishing with both of us not believing that they wanted us to be on longer quiz teams are usually on!
“Although our teams scores were not sky high, we were told we were one of the best quiz teams with Greg James even telling us that the public were obsessed with us and were manically texting in. He also stated that not only did he “love us” but that he wants to have us on again in the future.”
The surreal experience, is one that the four quiz members will never forget and has only spurred Eve and Aimee’s ambitions for a career in media.
“We were able to see how the radio works, talking to producers and Greg James in between the gaps of us being live on air, whilst songs were playing. Particularly for me and Aimee, hearing that the nation was texting in calling us funny and even saying we need our own show was the highlight even with Greg James himself saying he loved us and creating clips from our quiz and replaying them for the nation.”
If you want to listen to Eve and Aimee’s grand finale - click here at 15 minutes, 30 seconds.