Radio Ulster's Vinny Hurrell and Cate Conway: We want listeners to feel like they're sitting beside us having a bit of craic

"There will be no politics and no heavy news, it’ll be those left-of centre, slightly quirkier news stories,” says Vinny Hurrell, whom readers will probably know best as Stephen Nolan’s former side-kick and stand-in presenter.

Promising a blend of ‘craic, colour and chaos’ there’ll be a TV, film and Netflix feature each week, as well as a guide to what’s happening around Northern Ireland and interviews with a range of famous names, with chat show queen Lorraine Kelly, bequiffed 1980s’ singer Shakin’ Stevens, and singer and TV personality Ashton Merrygold, all lined up.

There’ll also be an agony aunt and uncle segment, ‘Dear Vinny and Cate’, where people can contact the duo with their every day dilemmas ([email protected] ).

Vinny says: “It’s that decompression thing, where we are trying to give people that downtime, or ‘me’ time. It’s just easy listening and we’ll mix in some wellbeing stuff too if people are finding life a bit stressful.

"Cate and I are quite competitive so we’ll be challenging the other to do something like a round or two with an Olympic boxer, learning how to play the piano, that sort of thing.”

Cate Conway, formerly a presenter on Q Radio, says the show will be a “pressure valve”.

“We want the listeners to feel like they are sitting beside us, just having a bit of craic. “You know when you haven’t seen your friends for a while and you get together – it’ll have kind of feeling to it. We want a lot of interaction with the listeners.

The pair have done quite a few dry runs of the show to get into the swing of things and say it’s “coming along really naturally”.

"Cate is more experienced in co-presenting, whereas usually I am talking to myself or guests,” says Vinny.

Cate, who co-presented with the late Stephen Clements on Q Radio, adds: “Not everybody can be a co-presenter, because if you are used to just presenting, there’s a mindset and a thought process that takes place and sometimes it’s really hard to let somebody else into that. But, I really enjoy Vinny’s company.”

Sadly, Cate and Vinny’s lives share a heart-breaking symmetry, having both lost friends to suicide.

Vinny’s friend Nuala, with whom he was inseparable, took her own life in 2005 aged just 24, leaving him devastated.

And for Cate, losing her former co-presenter and close friend Stephen Clements to suicide in January, 2020, was unimaginably heart-breaking.

“It (suicide) is not something that we sit and mull over together, but I think maybe there’s an understanding people have when that’s happened,” says Vinny.

Cate adds: “Stephen was obviously my last co-host and that Vinny understands that and knew Stephen, definitely helps.

“There’s other levels and other dynamics at play, but that has definitely been helpful and I have definitely felt very welcome since I arrived here (at the BBC), because everybody knew Stephen and knew what I had lost.”

Vinny Hurrell, 40, grew up on a farm in Randalstown, Co Antrim, and has been known to get the wellies on and help out during calving time.

"Well, I was involved in calving a cow. My dad was there and it was a long time ago. I was also there for a Ceasaran – that was slightly traumatising, but also fascinating because the heifer stands up the whole way through. I think I was about 10 years old watching that happen. Thankfully, everything was fine.”

So, does he consider himself a culchie?

"I used to be told that I sounded like a culchie that had been to drama school,” he laughs.

Vinny moved back to Randalstown a year ago, married his partner of 12 years, Craig, last December and has two children, Mason, 9, and Sofie, 7. There’s also two pet pooches, Bear and Winnie; and once again Vinny recently put his farming-honed midwifery skills to good use helping Winnie deliver a litter of five pups.

Cate, 46, who is divorced and orginally from Carryduff lives in Dunmurry. A fellow animal lover, she two Persian cats with extravagant triple-barrel names, but called Mindy and Dusty for short.

And should the pair every run out of material for the show, their own colourful lives should provide plenty of hilarious subject matter, as Vinny recalls his weirdest job.

"I was a toilet tester for Armitage Shanks when I was at university (he studied journalism & media in Staffordshire University in England). I lasted three days, it was horrible. You had to hook the toilets up to different machines and test that they were airtight.

“I also worked as a dancer for a while when I was at university. It was in a nightclub, and it was themed, so I’d dress up as different characters, like Austin Powers and Steps, which included a white Stetson and a white PVC coat!”

With her easy manner and deft conversational skills, Cate is a natural on the radio, but her route into broadcasting has been somewhat circuitous and curious given that she hated public speaking.

“I was absolutely terrified of public speaking. Really. I couldn’t have even stood at the front of the classroom.

"I only started in radio in 2015. Before that I worked in Belfast Met in marketing and I had to do talks in front of 16 and 18-year-olds. I took the job despite that and thought I am just going to have to learn to do this.

“Then I ended up changing career because I liked it so much, so I went from something I thought there was no way I could do, to just letting myself love it and change career – and the next thing I’m selling kettles and toasters on QVC!

"I was a featured extra in the pilot of Game of Thrones. I had also been doing voiceovers and got to know people in radio that way.

"A number of years later I had a call from the MD of Q Radio to say that they needed someone to work on the breakfast show with Stephen Clements and would I like to demo for the role. I got the job and that was my first job in radio - I was 38. Quite a career change.”

In January Vinny departed the Nolan Show after 14 years. So how was it working alongside Stephen?

“I think when you work with anyone for that amount of time it’s not always going to be sunshine and daisies – that is maybe more reflective on the programme and the content and the atmosphere – it’s very intense, it’s very high pressure sometimes, so you are going to have your fun days and your not so fun days and we definitely had a mixture of both, but thankfully more fun than not.

“I have learnt a lot from Stephen, you can’t not, plus getting to produce the programme and present what is literally, the biggest show in the country, it was amazing to get to do that, especially for so long.”

Vinny also works on the true crime podcast series – Assume Nothing (there’s one out on April 29 on the Mikayla McAreavey murder), as well as having worked on TV property programmes and entertainment radio.

And now working with Cate. For so long I’ve wanted to present and produce my own daily show and to get to do it with someone as talented and kind as Cate - makes it even better.”