Miquita Oliver has apologised to Fearne Cotton after she was sacked from BBC Radio 1 for making an “awful” comment about her. The presenter, 42, was let go from her radio job in 2005 following an interview with NME where she was asked how she would improve Top Of The Pops and replied that the programme should get rid of Fearne.
Podcast confession
Speaking on her Miss Me? podcast, Oliver became emotional as she recounted the story to her co-host, Jordan Stephens. She said: “I would like to tell the story of me and Fearne Cotton. So basically, when I was 20, I did something really awful that I was really ashamed of for a long time. I did an interview in NME and I wasn’t very nice about her at all.
“I was awful about her, and I was fired from Radio 1 because of it, so I lived in a lot of consequence. We didn’t like each other… I don’t even think she didn’t like me but because I’d been so awful about her, I think she stayed away from me.”
Reconnection
A few years later, Fearne began dating Miquita’s T4 co-host Steve Jones and the pair would see each other “all the time”. Miquita said: “We were civil but it was a little bit uncomfortable, but it was OK. Then we just sort of didn’t see each other.”
The former Popworld host explained how Fearne reached out to her after watching the Miss Me? podcast and helped her through a tough time. She said: “Last year, she sent me a message on Instagram when I was having a f****** awful time. She said, ‘Hey Miquita, I just watched a clip of you talking about how the press used to refer to you and it resonated deeply. I just wanted to say thank you for opening up about it. Sending love’.”
Tearing up, Miquita added: “I didn’t mean to be awful to her. I was unkind and it wasn’t me. That message was really healing for me. I sent her so much love back and I knew she’d just been through a divorce and was on this new journey. I said, ‘I wish you so much f****** luck on your new chapter.’ It was all love. So actually, me and Fearne Cotton are fine.”
Social media response
A clip of the podcast was shared on Instagram and Cotton commented: “Beyond grateful for how we’ve reconnected. Makes me very happy.” Miquita’s mother, chef and broadcaster Andi Oliver, was amongst the first to send her support, saying: “I am so proud of you and your honesty.”
Miquita rose to fame while presenting Channel 4’s Popworld with Simon Amstell from 2001 to 2006, and then spent the next four years fronting T4. Meanwhile, Fearne presented Top Of The Pops from 2004 until it ended in 2006.
