Rylan Clark-Neal believes he got his BBC Radio 2 show because people realised he "wasn't an idiot" from his presenting job on 'Big Brother's Bit on the Side'.
Rylan Clark-Neal
The 30-year-old presenter is set to take over from Zoe Ball this weekend with his permanent slot on Radio 2 on Saturday afternoon and he is convinced it was his tenure on the 'Celebrity Big Brother' discussion spin-off show - which he got offered to helm after winning the Channel 5 reality show in 2013 - that showed potential employers that he was a talented presenter.
In an interview with The I Paper, he said: "It was an opportunity for the public to see the person behind the character I had created on 'The X Factor'. I won 'Big Brother' then I got asked to host 'Big Brother's Bit on the Side', it gave me a career.
"It then gave me my husband [Dan Neal] and gave me the life I have now. Without 'BB' I don't think any of this would have happened. It was the best apprenticeship I could have asked for ... I think people realised I wasn't actually an idiot."
Rylan - who has also hosted ITV game show 'Babushka' and filled in on the sofa on 'This Morning', just two of his other TV jobs - accepts some of the public may think "ridiculous" that he was hired to replace Zoe, 48, following her move to the Radio 2 Breakfast Show but he is confident he can win over any listeners with doubts.
He said: " Of course, you're going to get the people who only know me for being an 'X Factor' contestant and have no idea what I've been up too for the past five years. That's fine - not everyone's going to follow what I do. I think a lot of people will think it's ridiculous I've been hired but hopefully some will think it's the right thing to do. I sat in for Zoe a few times, but when I was told that I had got the job properly, my first reaction was, 'Sorry!?' It was a shock for me."
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