All About Manchester

Morning Man

If you've ever watched daytime TV you probably know his face. From kids' shows on Nickelodeon to Channel 4's Big Breakfast and Richard and Judy, Mike McClean has done it all. Now, the cheeky presenter from Levenshulme has returned home after a 14-year absence to host Xfm's Breakfast Show. On a grey Mancunian morning, he talks to All About Manchester about rising early and spreading the cheer.

Where do you call home these days?

At the moment my mum and dad have my little place in Spain and I'm living in their house in Levenshulme. But my house is down in London. I've had to leave my wife and little boy to come up to Manchester for Xfm. And I'm doing Richard and Judy at the same time, so I do the breakfast show and then drive all over the place for Richard and Judy.

No wonder you sound knackered.

Tell me about it! Well, Richard and Judy finishes next week so it's not too bad. And I've just come back from a cruise, where I had five days to rest, but it's very hard to relax when you have an eight-month-old - unless you gag him, tie him up or throw him overboard.

How does it feel to live in Manchester again?

I'm just getting used to people saying 'hello' and 'good morning' and making polite conversation, which is quite nice. In London they don't do that unfortunately. It's nice to be back and be able to go and watch Manchester City, and pop in and see my mates. And the humour of the city is second to none - nobody takes themselves seriously here. But getting used to the rain...I'd forgotten how much it rains in Manchester.

Mike MccLean, celebrity, All About Manchester

London isn't exactly Majorca - it rains there too!

Nowhere near as much as Manchester. Somebody needs to design an umbrella big enough to cover the whole of the city and put a big bright light in each corner for artificial sunshine.

If you could change one thing about the city, what would that be?

I'd take that cloud that's constantly over Manchester and move it towards Warrington or Liverpool - let them have it for a bit.

You've presented breakfast shows on TV, but is this your first radio breakfast show?

I did one in London on a Saturday morning for Mercury FM, but this is every day and Xfm is a big brand - probably the only station I would move back to Manchester for.

Now the wrapper's come off, are you still enjoying it?

I love doing the breakfast show. It's different, it's live, and it's very rewarding to know that I can make someone laugh on their way to work in the morning.

But why would anyone want to wake up at 4.45am to start a show at 6am?

I'm a morning person. The minute I get out of bed I want to have a laugh.

Apart from being able to drag yourself out of bed at the crack of dawn, what other skills do you need to be a good breakfast show presenter on Xfm?

You need to know and love your music, you need people skills, you need to be able to have a chat non-stop about anything and you need to be funny.

So you just need to be yourself?

When people meet me in real life they say I'm not as lively as I am on the telly or on the radio. Well I've finished for the day! It's bizarre. People don't realise it's only a job. When you're a funny person everybody wants to tell you a joke. You don't walk up to a politician and go 'oh you're a politician, let me tell you a lie'!

Mike McClean is live on 97.7 Xfm weekday mornings from 6am to 10am. For more information visit www.xfmmanchester.co.uk

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