Chris Needs

MBE
Born(1954-03-12)12 March 1954
Cwmafan, Neath Port Talbot, Wales
Died(2020-07-26)26 July 2020
(aged 66)
NationalityWelsh
Occupation(s)Radio presenter, pianist
EmployerBBC Cymru Wales
Board member ofFounder, Chris Needs Hospital Appeal
SpouseGabe Cameron
WebsiteChrisNeeds.com

Christopher Needs, MBE (12 March 1954[1][2][3] – 26 July 2020) was a Welsh radio broadcaster, best known as a regular evening and daytime presenter on BBC Radio Wales.

Personal life

Born in Cwmafan near Port Talbot, he was educated at local schools. During his teenage years he was sexually abused by someone whom he refused to identify, and consequently tried to commit suicide.[4]

Chris Needs had known that he was gay while a teenager, and his husband, Gabe Cameron,[5] often answered listeners' calls to the show.[4]

Health and charity work

Needs established and headed the Chris Needs Hospital Appeal, a registered charity that supports South Wales hospitals. For his charity work and services to broadcasting he was awarded an MBE by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in the 2005 New Year Honours.

Shortly after his mother died in 2001, Needs began having symptoms of diabetes. Eventually, when he went to his local pharmacy to have himself checked, his sugar level was 61 mmol/L (1,098 mg/dL). Subsequently diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, he acted as Diabetes Cymru's celebrity ambassador.[6]

In 2016, Needs lost six stone as a result of an ulcerated throat. His experiences were followed in an S4C documentary.[7]

Needs died on 26 July 2020 from a heart condition, aged 66.[8]

Career

Needs was an accomplished pianist who had accompanied Bonnie Tyler[9] and appeared on S4C programmes such as Noson Lawen. His other jobs included: language translator, actor, tour guide, and all-round vocal / piano entertainer, and through his work he has lived in Spain, Gibraltar, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Jersey. He spoke English, Welsh, Spanish and Dutch and was learning German.[9]

He started his radio career with the Touch AM radio station before co-presenting the mid-morning magazine show Live Time on Radio Wales while also appearing on S4C television. From 2002 he had his own show, The Friendly Garden Programme, broadcast every week night.[10] In the period up to 2003, Needs was joined nightly on his radio show by his friend Nikki-Sue, a show singer and Tina Turner impersonator.

Most of the people who called into his show belonged to an organisation called The Chris Needs Friendly Garden Association. The Garden as it became known, claimed almost 50,000 members, mainly from Wales but also from as far away as Queensland, Australia. The great majority of members were women, and everyone was given a membership number; in the case of men, this would be prefixed with M - for "Mere Male"! Members could even enrol their pets as members; their numbers were prefixed with A for Animal member.

Awards

  • 1996 – Sony Radio Academy Awards Silver Award for Best Regional Presenter.[11]
  • 2009 – Variety Club of Great Britain Lifetime Achievement Award.

Books

  • 2007 – Like It Is: My Autobiography
  • 2008 – The Jenkins's's's's's
  • 2009 – And There's More ... My Autobiography – part 2
  • 2013 - Highs And Lows

References

  1. ↑ "Chris Needs: 'Writing parts of the book just tore me apart'". Wales Online. 13 November 2007. Archived from the original on 27 July 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  2. ↑ "Chris Needs" BBC Radio Wales [4 May 2007]. Needs said the song "Here in My Heart" by Al Martino was from the year he was born.
  3. ↑ "Chris Needs". BBC Radio Wales. Archived from the original on 27 July 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  4. 1 2 Steffan Rhys (15 November 2009). "Gay taunts have made my life hell". South Wales Echo. Archived from the original on 23 December 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  5. ↑ Katie Bellis (27 July 2020). "Legendary BBC Radio Wales DJ Chris Needs has died". WalesOnline. Archived from the original on 27 July 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  6. ↑ Dr Sarah Jarvis. "Symptoms campaign – Our campaign to highlight diabetes symptoms". Diabetes UK. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  7. ↑ "S4C Pobol: Chris Needs". BBC. Archived from the original on 27 July 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  8. ↑ "BBC Radio Wales broadcaster Chris Needs dies aged 66". BBC News. 27 July 2020. Archived from the original on 27 July 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  9. 1 2 "How radio star Chris Needs turned torment into triumph". S4C. Archived from the original on 12 March 2018. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  10. ↑ Stuart Clarkson (27 July 2020). "Tributes paid to BBC Radio Wales presenter Chris Needs". Radio Today. Archived from the original on 27 July 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  11. ↑ "BBC – Wales – Radio Wales – Chris Needs". Archived from the original on 9 January 2008. Retrieved 6 May 2007.
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