Confessions (radio programme)

Confessions is an ongoing popular feature which first appeared on the BBC Radio 1 weekday breakfast show in the early 1990s, devised by its host, Simon Mayo.

Mayo, who had hosted the show since 1988, started the feature in August 1990, partly due to the rising interest in his own Christian faith, and it caught on very quickly.

Infamous confessions included: After completing each confession, Mayo would ask his crew - consisting of weather and travel presenter Dianne Oxberry, newsreader Rod McKenzie, or their respective stand-ins if they were away, and the day's "special guest producer" played by the show's own producer Ric Blaxill - whether they would "forgive" the confessor or not.

Word spread internationally and a story made the front page of The Wall Street Journal, with Mayo often being asked if he was "trying to challenge the power and principles of various religions".

Confessions spawned a successful spin-off book and, later, a Saturday night BBC television series which ran from 1995[2] to 1998, which was criticised by the Broadcasting Standards Council.

The podcasts were published on the show's website for download as well as on other platforms such as i-tunes, which was nicknamed "r-tunes" due to the BBC's policy of no advertising, and which is also a pun of OurTune, started by a previous Radio 1 mid morning host - Simon Bates.