[2][3] While touring there as bass player with a jazz group, he gained a job on a local radio station as a sports commentator, then as an announcer and, finally, as a disc jockey.

[5] In 1968 he recorded the charity single "I Like My Toys", a cover of a song by The Idle Race, as "Stewpot And Save The Children Fund Choir".

In one week in early 1972 he stood in for Alan Freeman on Pick of the Pops, and he sat in for such presenters as David Hamilton and Terry Wogan through the 1970s.

The senior guide on the ascent, Wayne Naylor, said at the time that Ed Stewart had carried his own equipment and was accompanied by his wife.

At the time the official word was that Stewart had decided to go into semi-retirement, however he later revealed in his autobiography that he was taken off from the programme by then controller Jim Moir.

His Sunday show was a blend of music and chat, plus listeners' letters and Where Are They Now?, a feature that attempts to re-unite old friends who have lost touch with each other.

The show ran until Stewart left Radio 2 in April 2006, not long after his autobiography was published in which he questioned the position of his colleagues Sarah Kennedy and Johnnie Walker on the network.

Anneka Rice replaced Stewart on the Christmas edition of Junior Choice, from 2017 onwards, after a hiatus in 2016 following his death.

[citation needed] In February 2005, Stewart took over the weekday afternoon show on Spectrum FM, an English-speaking radio station that broadcasts to Spain.

From February 2009 to September 2009 Stewart presented on Saturday and Sunday mornings between 9 am and noon on Internet radio station Wight FM (this was voicetracked).

Stewart also stood in for Shaun Tilley on the networked show The Retro Chart Years for a week in August 2009 and again in 2010.

[9] Stewart's two main interests were playing golf (he often met listeners of his programme who volunteered to caddy for him) and football; he was a supporter of Everton F.C.

She accompanied him on many of his appearances and was with him in the studio for his last edition of his children's show Junior Choice on BBC Radio 2 on Christmas Day 2015.

[14] Stewart was also an advocate and supporter of Phab Ltd, a charity operating in England and Wales which promotes inclusion for children and adults with disabilities.

On 10 February 2016 BBC Radio 2 broadcast an hour-long tribute to Stewart introduced by Anneka Rice, who went on to take over the Christmas Day edition of Junior Choice, starting the following year.