Jo Whiley, 58, candidly reveals how she battled grief and ‘bulletproofed her life’ to stay healthy after a string of tragic bereavements including BBC colleague Steve Wright

Jo Whiley candidly revealed how she stopped ‘losing herself in grief’ after a series of tragic deaths – including BBC colleagues Steve Wright and Simon Willis.

The Radio 2 DJ, 58, told how she had lost six friends and as a result ‘made her life bulletproof’ to stay healthy for her children.

Jo, who shares India, 31, Jude, 25, Cassius, 22, and Coco, 15, with husband Steve Morton, shared Woman & House: ‘Life can change so quickly. Often when you don’t expect it.’

She went on to explain how her husband lost two of his best friends around the same time, saying, “Our children grew up together, and we often went on vacation and spent weekends with them.”

‘Suddenly you are directionless and you have to try to be pragmatic. Instead of losing yourself in sadness, say, “Okay, what can we do to make this better?”

Jo said she decided to ‘rethink her lifestyle’ after losing more friends to COVID, epilepsy and stomach cancer, and after Radio 1 producer Simon died from a brain tumor in 2021.

‘These are things that can happen anyone, at any time, so I decided I had to make my life bulletproof. I don’t want to check out early and I have to do everything I can to keep this body running as long as possible.

‘I want to be there for my children. Hence the swimming, the diet, the vitamins and the routine health checks. I get a mole check every year because I’m quite chubby and in the past I haven’t been as careful as I could have been about tanning and sunbathing.

Elsewhere in the interview, Jo discussed the realities of growing older and concluded that age is not a barrier.

Saying, “If I ever worry about getting older, I think, ‘Thank God you are alive” and I am so grateful”.

“There’s a lot to consider because visually and physically things change with age, so you have to address them.”

The veteran broadcaster previously revealed how she has cut out sugar, drank less and exercised more to keep fit since the tragic losses.

“All our big players we were around have passed away,” she said The Telegraph.

“So we have to be the host of the party, because all the children of all the dead people come to us. That’s a real downer, but it’s the real truth.’

“They were the ones we went out with and did a lot of fun things with, so all of a sudden you’re like, ‘What do we do now?’ she added.

Jo said grieving her friends has been a huge challenge, including the way her routines have completely changed.

She talked about waiting for her friends to arrive on Friday evening, adding: ‘And you just wait, look at the door and say, ‘oh no, he’s not coming over, no he’s dead, he’s not coming over anymore’ .

She said she still misses her friends dearly and is struggling to fill the “gaping holes” they left behind.

Another recent loss is her Radio 2 DJ colleague Steve Wright, who died in February at the age of 69. After his shocking death, she wrote: ‘What a man. What a legend. The broadcaster’s broadcaster.

‘One of the nicest and sweetest people I have had the pleasure of working with. Thanks for the support and music chat over the years.

‘I can’t believe we won’t be meeting in the bowels of MV for our weekly catch-up. I love you Wrighty.”

Whiley believes the deaths of her friends have made her determined to stay fit and healthy herself.

The former Radio 1 DJ uses a personal trainer to help her prepare for festivals, while she also goes swimming three to four times a week and runs a few times a week with her music director Steve Morton.

Despite admitting she’s not a natural runner and even hates it, Jo believes staying fit helps her mind and body and makes her feel stronger.

The DJ – who has also provided the BBC’s Glastonbury coverage since 1997 – even prepares for her performances by stretching and swimming – when possible – as she suffered from pain in her neck and shoulders after shows.

The broadcaster has also discovered that her alcohol tolerance has decreased as she has gotten older – and that drinking a third of vodka makes her feel ‘horrible’ the next day.

She admitted that when she and her husband host parties at their Northamptonshire home – a converted 18th-century barn surrounded by fields – she is the one who cleans up while the party is at its height.

Jo, who is a vegetarian, has also made changes to her diet, mainly cutting out sugar, taking vitamins and watching her diet.

Since January she has been trying to eat more vegetables, nuts and legumes and less sweet foods, something she finds difficult. But during Christmas in Thailand, where her father-in-law lives, she realized how much sugar she was consuming.

Jo, who suffers from arthritis in her fingers and hands, said she would wake up with swollen fingers. The presenter and her husband also undergo health checks and during one of these, Morton discovered he had high cholesterol.

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