Britain’s brightest troll Katie Hopkins knows exactly what’s expected of her as she kicks off her Sunday morning radio show on LBC. Controversy must be served like a fry-up, toe-curling opinions must be barked and people offended.
“I am here with my own show,” she booms, “which I’m sure many of you will be delighted about.” It’s a tough gig because there’s more to hosting a radio phone-in than winding people up, and Hopkins seems nervous, tripping over her words.
Discussing David Cameron’s tax affairs is perfect Hopkins territory though: she’s all for being rich and paying as little tax as you can get away with – anyone who disagrees is a lefty. Or worse, a Guardian reader. Once, she claims, the “dreary, drippy men” at HMRC investigated her purely because they wanted to meet her.
She unleashes her one-size-fits-all opinions in spurts. Protesters are “the great unwashed” who put the tourists off. Bang! Young people’s opinions should be disregarded because they live with their mums. Bosh! Poor people are so stupid they can’t work Velcro. Oof!
Unsurprisingly there’s a little of the knee-jerk about her and she’s more of a ranter than a listener, repeating her point of view over and over as callers attempt to cut in. Mary makes her sweat through her nose and is branded “a fat lefty accountant”, while Matt is “not entitled to an opinion” because he doesn’t have a job.
Hopkins relaxes as the show goes on, showing her human side in a debate over whether it’s OK to lie to children. If she toned down the act, this could be a less exhausting listen.
Over on Radio 2, Michael Ball is a worthy and modest successor to Terry Wogan in the new Sunday show. Smooth of voice and gentle of humour, he slips from Gwen Stefani to the Isley Brothers. It’s relaxation all the way, unless you’re Ball’s sister, who has a fear of playlisted parper Acker Bilk after he used to torture her with Stranger On The Shore as a child. Ball is joined by his “old mate Andrew Lloyd Webber” and together they heartily cackle over his involvement in Bombalurina’s Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polkadot Bikini. Ball is the anti-Hopkins, providing a delightful soundtrack to a post-Weekend Wogan Sunday morning.
