In February, it was announced – cue a certain amount of high drama on Twitter – that Emily Maitlis, the presenter of the BBC’s Newsnight, and Jon Sopel, its North America editor, would be leaving the broadcaster after 20 and 40 years respectively and joining Global, the owner of, among other radio stations, Classic FM, LBC and Heart. They would, we were told, be presenting a daily news podcast together, a format inspired by their partnership on Americast, a BBC series that had been a huge hit (at moments, it was the UK’s most listened to podcast in any genre). Was this a coup? It certainly was. Inside the BBC, no one had any idea that two of its biggest names were about to depart until after the pair had been driven, in a car with blacked-out windows, to Global’s HQ in Leicester Square to sign the deal of their lives in conditions of utmost secrecy. In media circles, the gossip thereafter was energetic and, possibly, somewhat envious. Both were reported to have won hefty pay rises in the process (at the BBC, Sopel earned at least £235,000 and Maitlis at least £325,000).
And now here they are, the nearest thing British news has to a pair of high-octane celebrities, waiting to greet me on the other side of a set of security barriers, a small PR retinue in tow. How are they feeling? Are they nervous, excited or both? In fact, their mood seems to be set today to lightly giddy. Having worked on the podcast for weeks – dummies have been made, complete with real-life interviewees – both are about to disappear for a holiday before their launch at the end of this month. There is a feeling that school is out, at least for a while; Maitlis is wearing shorts with her heeled mules.
