Miquita Oliver has offered a public apology to Fearne Cotton as she opened up about the former feud that led to her being “fired” from BBC Radio 1.
Oliver's early career and the comments
Aged just 16 when she got her start in broadcasting on Popworld, Oliver presented on Radio 1 between the ages of 19 and 21. She departed the station in 2005, revealing in an interview four years later that she was “let go” following an interview with NME in which she called Cotton “devil woman”.
On a recent episode of Miss Me? – the podcast she co-hosts with Jordan Stephens – Oliver reflected on her “tumultuous” relationship with the Happy Place host and the “really awful” comments she made about her aged 20.
Apology and reflection
Explaining that she’d been “really ashamed” of this moment for “a long time”, Oliver, 42, said: “I would like to tell the story of me and Fearne Cotton. 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.”
Initially saying that she and Cotton “didn’t like each other” at the time, Oliver then explained: “I don’t even think she didn’t like me but because I’d been so awful about her she stayed away from me.”
Confrontation and reconciliation
The pair were forced to confront one another four years later when Welsh presenter Steve Jones, who worked with Miquita on T4, began dating Cotton. “I’d see her all the time,” she recalled. “We were civil but it was a little bit uncomfortable, but it was OK.”
Oliver then explained how more than a decade later in 2025, Cotton, 44, had reached out with an olive branch after seeing a clip of her getting emotional on Miss Me?. “She sent me a message on Instagram when I was having a f***ing awful time,” Oliver explained. “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.’”
Oliver explained that hearing from Cotton had proven “really healing”, adding: “I didn’t mean to be awful to her. I was unkind and it wasn’t me.” The presenter responded to Cotton, and wished her luck following her separation from husband Jesse Wood. “It was all love,” she said.
