On 25 May, you’re taking over the 10am to 1pm Live Lounge slot on Radio 1 from Fearne Cotton. How will you put your stamp on the show?
Obviously I want people to know they can still trust it. They are still going to hear lots of new music and tunes they are used to. People like familiarity, as they should with a radio station, but obviously... I do like the word “obviously” a lot, don’t I? Let me get out my thesaurus.
Does someone tell you if you repeat particular words a lot on air?
Yeah, everyone’s got their crutch phrases; listeners have been pretty cool, but I’m my own worst critic. If I listen back to a recording of myself I’ll slap myself on the forehead and feel a bit like an idiot. Anyway, back to your question, there’s not going to be a major overhaul but obviously… No, don’t say “obviously”! But I’m somebody who likes all different types of music. It’s evident from my background – being at Kiss FM and Radio 1Xtra – that I love hip-hop and R&B, that’s music I’m passionate about. But there’s everything from Kendrick Lamar to Kate Bush on my iPod.
Which radio DJs present or past have inspired you?
Oh gosh, so many people. I keep mentioning Sara Cox in interviews and I swear she’s going to think I’m obsessed with her. But I remember listening to her and thinking, “I really like this lady. She’s just chilled, she can tell a good story, and I feel like if I bumped into her in the pub she’d be like [adopts Mancunian accent] ‘Yerallright?’” But I adore Vanessa Feltz, she’s so well read, she’s unapologetically herself. And Trevor Nelson is an incredible broadcaster.
Should good radio DJs be like a friend then, someone you’d want to go to the pub with?
There has to be a sense of friendship there. But it’s such a funny one because there’s an element of me – and it’s something I almost don’t want to let go – that I’ll always feel like I’m watching what I’m doing happening to somebody else. It feels surreal. I’m just a girl out here enjoying what she does and I hope you enjoy what I do as much as I enjoy doing it. I want people when they listen to me to be like, “Clara, she’s all right. I trust her, I get it.”
What if success changes you?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m an ambitious person, but I’m somebody who’s very much into holding on to my sanity in this industry. I refuse to be turned into somebody I don’t like or somebody I wouldn’t want to be friends with.
In January, you took over as the presenter of the Official Chart show on Radio 1 – a run that now finishes in July. Are you sad to move on from that?
My stay will not be the longest, but listen – I got to present the Official Chart show on Radio 1. Even saying that to you now – I get to go down in the chart-history books among all the other greats who have done it. It’s another crazy thing that I wasn’t expecting to happen.
Radio 1’s remit is to appeal to 15- to 29-year-olds, but the station has struggled to do that. [The average age of listeners is currently 32.] Is that something you are made aware of?
Yeah, it’s on my mind, but at the same time I’m not thinking, “That’s not something that a 15- to 29-year-old would or wouldn’t like.” Because not every 15- to 29-year-old is the same type of person. Something I’m very aware of is engaging people’s attention for however long they are listening. People’s listening habits are all over the shop – some people you’ll catch them for 12 minutes on the train, others will listen literally all day – so I’ve got to make sure everything I say is of some use and every tune is relevant to the audience.
Does it feel strange that at 30 you are older than the target market?
No way, man. Not at all. I listen to a lot of radio, I’m a bit of a dork in that sense. I listen to 1 and 1Xtra, I listen to 6 Music, Radio 2 and 4 sometimes. I listen to a whole bunch of stations, local pirates, everything. My ears are always open.
What do you do when you’re not listening to the radio?
I’m a girl not afraid of a burger. I make it my mission to try out every decent burger joint in the whole of London. I’m going to roll out across the UK, I’ve got a two- to three-year plan. At the moment, Honest Burgers is my absolute fave, but oh, Bleecker St is good as well. Also, I’ve got a really bad problem with American reality TV. I love The Millionaire Matchmaker [on ITVBe] and I watch a show called Love & Hip Hop [on VH1], which is the hip-hop version of Towie. It’s just awful: you won’t see someone like Beyoncé or Jay Z on there. It’s people who have had a hit back in 2003 clawing on to their relevance. And I like to run; I’ve become a running bore.
Don’t you have a huge collection of trainers?
I’m not as bad as I used to be. I’ve got a mate and his collection is stupid. It’s worth literally over £1m and that’s not even an exaggeration. I’m staring at mine now sitting beautifully in the bottom of my wardrobe, so let me have a little count. Bear with me one sec… 16, 17, 18… I’m going into the black section now, I keep my black trainers separate from my colourful ones… Um, OK, at the moment, I have about 52 pairs, but honestly I swear I’m not that bad!
So who’d be your dream guest in the Live Lounge?
If I was to meet Prince or Stevie Wonder, I don’t think I could cope. I’ve seen Prince four times in the last 18 months; I queued up for six hours to see him at Koko last year with my mate and it was completely worth it. He was in-cred-ible. He’s someone if I met I’d have to have a tall glass of water and just act cool.
• Clara Amfo is a part of BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend Norwich 2015, 23-24 May. From 25 May she hosts Radio 1’s Live Lounge, weekdays, 10am-1pm.
