Nic Tuff
Encyclopedia
Nic Tuff is a British radio DJ with a career spanning two decades.
His first foray into broadcasting came when, at the age of 11, he co-hosted a competition on his local radio station, Radio Bristol, along with veteran broadcaster Roger Bennett
. From there, he went on to join his local hospital radio service in Bristol
.
His big break came thanks to his mother, who wrote to a presenter at Radio Wiltshire. Nic was invited to join the station as a general dogsbody, but learnt a lot and soon progressed to presenting shows. Since then, he has worked at some of the UK's best known radio stations. These include BRMB
in Birmingham
, Mercia FM
in Coventry
, Galaxy FM, Xtra AM
, The Pulse of West Yorkshire
, Buzz FM
, Kix 96, GWR FM
, Wyvern FM
, Telstar Satellite Network (Europe) and Yorkshire Television
. He also launched 107 Oak FM and has been the voice behind many commercials on radio and television.
He is probably best remembered for a 1998 April Fool's stunt while working as the breakfast presenter at Kix 96 in Coventry
, during which he called the then South Africa
n president Nelson Mandela
pretending to be British prime minister Tony Blair
.
Nic retired from the airwaves in 1999.
His first foray into broadcasting came when, at the age of 11, he co-hosted a competition on his local radio station, Radio Bristol, along with veteran broadcaster Roger Bennett
Roger Bennett
Roger Bennett was an Arrernte man from Central Australia, an actor, and a playwright. His best known works are Up the Ladder and Funerals and Circuses....
. From there, he went on to join his local hospital radio service in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
.
His big break came thanks to his mother, who wrote to a presenter at Radio Wiltshire. Nic was invited to join the station as a general dogsbody, but learnt a lot and soon progressed to presenting shows. Since then, he has worked at some of the UK's best known radio stations. These include BRMB
Brmb
brmb is a local radio station based in Birmingham, UK, owned and operated by Orion Media. The station broadcasts on 96.4 FM, DAB Digital Radio in the West Midlands and online...
in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, Mercia FM
Mercia FM
Mercia is an Independent Local Radio station serving Coventry and Warwickshire. The station, owned and operated by Orion Media broadcasts from studios shared with BRMB at Broad Street in Birmingham.-History:...
in Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
, Galaxy FM, Xtra AM
Xtra AM
Xtra AM was a United Kingdom radio station which was on the air between 1989 and 1998. It was broadcast to much of Birmingham, Coventry and Warwickshire and was the 'oldies' station which took over the mediumwave frequencies of both BRMB and Mercia FM...
, The Pulse of West Yorkshire
The Pulse of West Yorkshire
The Pulse is a British Independent Local Radio station that serves the Bradford, Kirklees and Calderdale areas of West Yorkshire. The station was originally known as Pennine Radio...
, Buzz FM
Buzz FM
Buzz FM was a United Kingdom radio station which was on the air between 1990 and 1994. It was broadcast to Birmingham on 102.4 MHz, and was launched as the city's fourth radio station after BBC WM, BRMB and Xtra AM...
, Kix 96, GWR FM
GWR FM
GWR FM was a network of three radio stations in the south west of England. All three stations were rebranded and joined the Heart Network on 23 March 2009.*GWR FM Bristol - now Heart Bristol - was launched in 1981 as Radio West, it relaunched as GWR in 1985....
, Wyvern FM
Wyvern FM
Wyvern is a radio station broadcasting to Herefordshire and Worcestershire in England. Wyvern is predominantly music-based, playing pop from the 1980s through to the present day...
, Telstar Satellite Network (Europe) and Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
. He also launched 107 Oak FM and has been the voice behind many commercials on radio and television.
He is probably best remembered for a 1998 April Fool's stunt while working as the breakfast presenter at Kix 96 in Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
, during which he called the then South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n president Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
pretending to be British prime minister Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
.
Nic retired from the airwaves in 1999.