Greg James leaves Radio 1 followers baffled with weird assertion about quitting the Breakfast Show as a consequence of BBC being ‘below company management’

Radio 1’s Greg James left his fans baffled after posting a bizarre statement about quitting the Breakfast Show on Sunday. 

The DJ,  39, who has hosted the flagship morning show since 2018, took to Instagram with a lengthly post in which he complained about the BBC being ‘under corporate control’

Fans were horrified as they scrolled through the lengthy statement before realising it was all a joke ahead of Greg’s return to the airwaves on Monday.

He went on to show snaps from his festive break before returning with an apology for the joke in a video alongside wife Bella Mackie, 41, and explained he was poking fun at Neil Young’s recent Glastonbury U-turn. 

The statement which caused the confusion read: ‘The R1 Breakfast show team and I were looking forward to starting another year of the show and delivering a load of stupid stuff to get you through the early hours, it’s one of my all time favourite gigs,’ 

‘We were told that the BBC was now a partner and wanted us to a do lot of things in a way we were not interested in. It seems Radio 1 is now under corporate control and is not the way i remember it being. Thanks for listening the last few years!’

‘We will not be able to continue our work to mess around with the biggest stars in the world and celebrate our amazing listeners, like Owen who accidentally smashed 10,000 eggs, or Alice who flew to Paris to try and get off with some Olympians in the summer. This also means we’ll no longer be conducting funerals for any more ducks.

‘Radio 1 is a corporate turn – off, and not for me like it used to be. Hope to see you on one of my many podcasts instead.’

He then followed it up: ‘Due to an error in the information received, I had decided not to do the breakfast show, which I have always loved. Happily, the radio show is now back on my itinerary and we look forward to being there when you need some fun in the morning! Hope to see you there!’ he added.

‘Looking forward to management’s reaction to a Neil Young Glastonbury joke. I might have inadvertently ruined my first day back. Made me laugh though so that’s good at least.’

Fans failed to get the reference and rushed to the comments writing: ‘How to confuse the nation 101’: ‘THIS WAS NOT OK FOR A SUNDAY EVENING’:  ‘This confused me so much! I still don’t fully understand’: ‘Funny not funny’: ‘I’m scared & confused’: 

It comes after musician Neil said he will now be playing the Glastonbury Festival, blaming ‘an error in the information I received’ for him initially turning down the offer because it was ‘under corporate control’ of the BBC.

The singer, 79, and his new live band The Chrome Hearts were thought to be in the running for the huge music event which takes place at Worthy Farm in Somerset. 

But Young issued a bombshell statement on New Year’s Day accusing the festival of being controlled by the BBC, appearing to dash fans’ hopes. 

Today a statement posted on Neil Young’s website said: ‘Due to an error in the information received, I had decided to not play the Glastonbury Festival, which I always have loved. 

‘Happily, the festival is now back on our itinerary and we look forward to playing. Hope to see you there.’

Young had previously said in an open letter on the Neil Young Archives this week: ‘The Chrome Hearts and I were looking forward to playing Glastonbury, one of my all time favourite outdoor gigs.

‘We were told the BBC was now a partner in Glastonbury and wanted us to do a lot of things in a way that we were not interested in. It seems Glastonbury is now under corporate control and is not the way I remember it being.

‘We will not be playing Glastonbury on this tour because it is a corporate turn-off, and not for me like it used to be. Hope to see you at one of the other venues on the tour.’

The BBC has aired sets from the music festival across its various television and radio stations for years.

Young’s most recent performance at Glastonbury in 2009 was broadcast on the BBC. But only portions of it were actually televised due to Young’s team objecting.

In response to criticism from his fans, the BBC said it had ‘spent the last couple of months’ negotiating with his management about how much of his set they could broadcast.

‘Neil Young’s career has been conducted on his own terms,’ the broadcaster said at the time. 

‘Neil’s management agreed to let TV and radio broadcast five songs as they watched and listened to his performance. They believe in the live event and retaining its mystery and that of their artist.’

The singer was also booked to appear at the 1997 festival, but had to pull out after cutting his finger while making a ham sandwich. 

Young’s new band features Micah Nelson on guitar, Spooner Oldham on organ, Corey McCormick on bass and Anthony LoGerfo on drums. 

Announcing his return to the Pyramid Stage, Glastonbury promoter Emily Eavis hinted at frantic negotiations behind the scenes as she wrote: ‘What a start to the year! Neil Young is an artist who’s very close to our hearts at Glastonbury. 

‘He does things his own way and that’s why we love him..

We can’t wait to welcome him back here to headline the Pyramid in June.’