Lady Leshurr and Reece Parkinson replaced in BBC Radio 1Xtra shake-up

Rapper Lady Leshurr and DJ Reece Parkinson will be replaced on BBC Radio 1Xtra, the corporation has announced.

Lady Leshurr, whose real name is Melesha O’Garro, has not been doing her Saturday slot following being charged in October with assault.

It is alleged that same month, she attacked her ex-girlfriend Sidnee Hussein and Chante Boyea in an altercation in Walthamstow, east London.

In November, the 35-year-old former Dancing On Ice contestant, from Birmingham, pleaded not guilty to two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

On Tuesday, the BBC said TV personality and presenter Joelah Noble will take over from Lady Leshurr on Saturdays from 1pm to 4pm on BBC Radio 1Xtra.

Noble, born in London and raised in New York, previously hosted a YouTube behind-the-scenes show called Lionesses Live about the victorious England team competing in the Women’s Euro finals.

She said: “Radio is one of my favourite things ever so to have my own slot is a dream. I won’t give too much away but the listeners better be ready for big things.

“Plus, I’m bringing 1Xtra’s Throwback Party back with KeKe into the live schedule four days a week. We can’t wait to show everyone what we’ve got in store. Expect big laughs and of course the best throwback bangers.”

BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2019 – Arrivals
Reece Parkinson, pictured, joined 1Xtra as an intern in 2016, before presenting the Drivetime show on Radio 1Xtra. (Ian Rutherford/PA)

He had also presented the Weekend Breakfast Show and 1Xtra Talks – a news and current affairs programme – along with a segment for BBC World News’s The Travel Show about travelling with his diabetes diagnosis.

Parkinson said he was “thankful for the life-changing experience” at the station and added he was “excited” for his next project.

Presenter and DJ Remi Burgz, who joined the station in 2021 as a Weekend Breakfast Show host before moving to a weekday show, will present the Drivetime slot from 4pm to 7pm on Mondays to Fridays.

Burgz said: “My friends don’t even trust me to drive them around town but now I’m keeping people company through drive time.

“Reece Parkinson has left big shoes to fill but I’m ready for the ride.”

It follows, the 1Xtra Introducing Show With Theo Johnson, about undiscovered artists, which launched last September in the West Midlands city and is the first weekly show from the station to air outside of London.

Faron McKenzie, station head at BBC 1Xtra, said: “As a Birmingham native myself, I’m so proud to be delivering on that promise and bringing 1Xtra to such an amazing and diverse city.

“I’m excited to see Kaylee represent, connect with new audiences, and inject her fun, Brummie energy into 1Xtra afternoons.”

All the changes at Radio 1Xtra start from April 3.

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