Steve Allen has left LBC

Are you sure?
Where did you hear this?
I know that Darren Adam has left (or is suspended while things are looked into).

I see that he isn’t listed as a presenter on the LBC website- so you are right! Blimey!
I’ve been listening to him for well over a decade.
He will be devastated. It was his life

He has left ‘following discussions’.
Sacked all in name I imagine.
I must admit that I have complained myself to Ofcom about him.
About a year ago he called a group of immigrants ‘rapists’.
It looks like Ian Payne has got his slot.
I love Ian.
www.itv.com/news/2023-02-24/lbc-presenter-steve-allen-to-leave-station-after-more-than-four-decades

i've been listening to LBC on and off since it started in 1970s, inc SA.
i was fascinated by the concept of ordinary people ringing in, which was unheard of, pun intended, at the time !
i feel a bit sorry for him, after so long, it seems rather ignominious departure.
not sure what to make of him as a person.
certainly eccentric. wonder if he is quite sensitive underneath that brash, ? defensive exterior.
i know some people say he is not nice at all.
guess i'd like to imagine most people are nice.

Hello welbeck
I’ve just been thinking about how long I’ve been listening- I think I started around 2006.

I must have listened to Steve nearly every morning since then.
I’ve always had a love / hate relationship with him.

He is absolutely infuriating in his ignorance about almost everything; but I used to find him really calming when he was wittering on about his daily routines and life in Twickenham.

I admit that I even bought his tea towels! He could be my specialist subject on Mastermind.

To be honest, I thought that they’d have to carry him out of LBC.
It must have been a huge shock for him.

I could have sworn that he recently said that his contract had been renewed following the latest Rajar report.
I looked on Digital Spy and others said they’d heard him say that too.
They are speculating whether he’ll go to Talk Radio, but I can’t see it. He’d definitely take a massive audience with him.

As I said previously, he will be absolutely gutted. LBC was absolutely everything to him.
I think that he will really struggle with this.
It’s a shame that he didn’t get to say goodbye- but I doubt if he would have been able to cope with that either.

I am really missing Darren Adam too, I was a big fan of his.
He went suddenly too.
I contacted Global to ask where Darren was, and they blatantly lied saying that he was on annual leave (he’d been off going on a month).
I sent them a reply saying that it was a really shabby and frankly insulting way to treat loyal listeners.
In their email they got my name wrong, and actually addressed me as ‘Darren’.

Steve used to say what a wonderful employer Global was and how much he loved his bosses.
I wonder now what sort of employer they really are

I’m listening to Steve’s final show on Global player now. It’s from last Friday. 17th February.
Just to see if there is any indication that he knew anything about what was about to happen.
So far, absolutely nothing at all.
All this week Ian Payne has been saying that ‘Steve is having a rest’.

You said before you couldn’t stand him Fanny that he was an awful man you never mentioned having a soft spot for him!!!

According to LBC spiel he’s off for a week

He has a lot of ill health he’s had lots of heart operations, ‘he’s got more bypasses than anyone else has ever had’ he has diabetes which he ‘pretends’ he doesn’t look after he’s always bragging about taking dozens of tablets a day I think he’s had prostrate trouble too he’s been off before with ill health with no explanation, I presumed it was that again

He is certainly a good talker and I do listen just so he can lull me back to sleep with his droning, but he’s a dangerous man as he gives out far too much completely incorrect information and how he’s never been sued I ve no idea he talks dreadfully about anyone he takes a dislike too he’s got no ‘off button’ he’s just awful the way he targets someone then goes on and on with hateful things (Katie price, Gemma Collins poor Peter Andre and his little wxxxx) anyone he takes a dislike to he comes out with dredful things about then, he also says some awful ignorant racist, misogamists outpourings but is never pulled up about them
He’s also a huge braggart about how much he does for charity how much he gives to people, how much he earns, and how he gets government money (which on his wage he doesn’t need) he brags about his cars which are always bigger and better than anyone else’s

To me he is everything wrong with media revving people up with false information into quite a hateful state with very little established facts …… but he has a huge following who hang on his every word

It would be very interesting to know if he’s been sacked and what for? I hope he has ….I’ll watch this thread

He’s definitely gone BlueBelle
It’s all across the media.
The official line is that his contract was up and ‘following discussions’ he has left.
Yes, it’s absolutely true that half the time I can’t stand him - but I definitely have a soft spot for him. I’m slightly obsessed with him!
I’ve got lots of gossip on him too. Especially regarding what happened with him and Dale.
And Matt Goss.

I think that Global just had enough dealing with Ofcom.
He got loads of complaints.
I was a bit surprised about how much was made of the Tilly Ramsey business; he says much worse on a daily basis.

Global are pretty brutal when they operate. See also Maajid Nawaz and lovely Darren.
I think that Darren was in trouble for calling the entire membership of the Conservative Party ‘certifiable lunatics’

BlueBelle I posted a link at 1.48

Yes, he was off last year for several weeks. He was in hospital for quite a while - yes it was his prostate.
Do you remember when he fell on top his halogen oven and couldn’t get up?
He had major burns and had to have skin grafts, but still went into work the morning after he did it.
He was also the only presenter who didn’t (couldn’t) work from home during lock down.
I remember that he was constantly out and about during the pandemic.
He didn’t seem to understand the guidelines at all.

You can’t hide racism, poor information, completely inaccurate information and revving people up into hatred as a talent though Fanny
Of course he understood the rules about Covid he was just too pig headed to follow them, no rules apply to him
Yes I remember the halogen episode we heard enough about it
He always went on about his generosity blowing his own trumpet and how good he is to everyone
But the very worse thing was he gave out completely false information and people hung onto every word
He was a DANGEROUS MAN with a big following and could rev the less intelligent listeners into hatred against one person or a group or a country easily with his ‘silly old buffer, I d give the coat off my back’ routine

I hope someone has sued him for every penny in his bragging world
Long may he be gone

I usually listen from 6 when I get up to make a cuppa. I wondered why he wasn’t on this week. It’s a bit of a shock as I know he said he loved coming into work and was never going to retire. However, some of his comments were a bit outrageous , so I’m not surprised there have been complaints. He had quite a fan following I know, so he will be missed.

BlueBelle you are preaching to the converted here.

When I said I had a soft spot - what I really mean is that I find him quite fascinating, psychologically.

He actually makes himself incredibly vulnerable in everything that he reveals, consciously and otherwise.

He seems very stunted. All of his interests are to do with childhood- magic, circuses, Paddington Bear, The Sound of Music.

His relationship with his brother is peculiar; why for instance did Steve go to boarding school when he was little, but his brother didn’t?
He’s a hoarder as well, that’s how he fell on the oven.
And the throwing everything away stuff. He only wears pants and socks once, and only uses disposable cutlery and dishes.
And yet he keeps everything of his patents and all of Dale’s clothes.

I’m genuinely concerned how he will cope with this.
I don’t think that he will to be perfect honest.
LBC really was his be all and end all.

Anyway, if you’re reading this Steve and want a ghost writer for your autobiography…

BlueBelle I did mention that I’d complained to Ofcom about him.
Also Global.
I’m not defending him in any way shape or form.

He is a complex character Fanny and probably one very interesting to study from a psychological point of view and he could be funny when he wasn’t being cruel and sarcastic
He was probably everything I dislike in a man he bragged about so much, even illness he bragged about, but there is definitely a damaged side to him
I never quite caught on if him and Dale were just good friends or an item ?
Hes certainly got lots of hang ups and maybe his childhood wasn’t as idylic as he maintains complex character everything had to be bigger and better than everyone else even his bloody window boxes
Did I read somewhere that he had another brother written out his life never spoken of or did I just dream that up ?

The annoying part is we ll never know the truth, pretty obvious he was sacked but what was the straw that broke the camels back
You’re right he’ll be devastated unless he has something else lined up it was his life

I’m pretty certain that they were just best friends.
Dale liked straight men, which got him into a lot of bother.
I’d forgotten about the hanging baskets and tomorite!
I’m almost at the end of his final show - he obviously didn’t have a clue.
He’s saying all the usual stuff about how much he loves his job and doesn’t need holidays…

He’s got a lot of enemies in speech radio.
I’m thinking particularly of Iain Lee and Cristo (I remember Steve calling Cristo ‘a little, fat, Greek p***’ on air - how awful is that!)
And there must be lots of others.

It’s difficult to see him fitting in anywhere else, but he’d definitely take listeners with him.

A couple of weeks ago Nick Abbot joked that if they could teach an AI chat bot to buy snacks from M&S LBC could replace Steve with it.

And James Max - he’s really got it in for Steve too

I love Nick abbot would be good if he took over a daily slot 9/10 hours a week isn’t enough for him
Wish Nick Farrari would go as well at least he’s intelligent but poisonous
Farage was sacked, (hooray) his contract was almost up too 😂😂😂
SA could be so cruel he went on and on about Peter Andre having a little w xxxx and poor Matt Goss he was just so cruel about him
Would nt surprise me if Gordon Ramsey was his downfall I wouldn’t like to cross that man and Allen was awful about his daughter

BlueBelle Nick Abbot is the very best and so clever. Ditto, my opinion on NF.

*Fanny *I didn't read the rest of the thread before I rapidly pm'd you - sorry. Lovely to have so many fans of LBC. Interesting isn't it how Steve Allen managed to draw me in. Like you all, I had a love/ mainly hate relationship with him. Fundamentally flawed but somehow had a huge audience. I wonder whether he will continue with his stage show on 26 February. I doubt it but would certainly worry about his state of mind given the news.

I’ve just been scrutinising Twitter.
There is a suggestion that he misgendered the ever ridiculous Sam Smith.
He did have a small rant about him them at the start of last Friday’s show, regarding the ‘fisher them’ business.
I wonder, is Smith very litigious?

He had signed a new contract before Christmas, so it was a very hasty departure and the contract business is a lie.
It’s noteworthy that both Steve’s statement and that of LBC are word for word exactly the same.

It’s been quite funny looking at all of the comments.
Especially those saying that he’d been sacked for being ‘non-woke’, when it’s quite clear that Darren went because he was too left wing.

I do wonder what direction LBC is going.
It is rather repetitive and same-y.

Hi TopsyIrene he was certainly a character who had a wide fan base because, (like Trump) he was not afraid to say the most outrageous things that some people love to hear and then they can jump on the ‘bandwagon of hate’ and feel vindicated and allowed to voice cruel things about whoever was the ‘none’ flavour of the week
He had a really cruel sense of entitlement and an ego bigger than the Eiffel Tower

I did try Icelands mash potato because of him though and love it 😂😂😂

Hello TopsyIrene from me too!
Try Idaho instant mash BlueBelle, it’s wonderful!
I’m trying to think of I’ve ever bought anything on Steve’s recommendation, other than the blooming tea towels!

Over nights are looking a bit iffy now with both Darren and Steve gone.
I like Ian Payne in that slot, I find him interesting and warm, but I don’t think that it’s sustainable.

Apparently Ian said that he was only doing the 10pm - 1am slot for the short term, so that’s a bit odd.
Ben Kentish seems to be doing it now for the long term.

I’m hoping that Richard Spurr isn’t going to be a regular feature, but I suspect that he will be.
He’s not very bright and doesn’t seem on top of his brief, he’s often out of his depth with political stuff. He’s very old fashioned Tory too. He’s only in his early 40s which I find surprising.

I even found myself listening to Paul Ross on Talk one night last week.
Anyone is preferable to Dotun Adebayo on R5!

LBC really could do with more women presenters too.

I am afraid I can't listen to Richard Spurr and agree that he seems slightly out of his depth. I quite like Ian Payne but left to his own devices and given a he would go off on a sport related topic, never to return until he is clearly pulled back. Now I completely get it that sport is his chosen subject but if I wanted to listen to it, I would stick to Radio 5.