Aircheck Tracker
Profile: Chris Ashley: Born a long long time ago, Chris Ashley, or to give him his full name, Christopher Aloysius Ignatius Xavier Obadiah Ashley, spent his early years in Australia where he did a number of mind-numbing jobs. The worst? - checking every third model kangaroo pouch as it went by on a conveyor belt for the baby joey. So kids, if you’ve got a roo without it’s nipper, it’s Chris’s fault. Closer to home, Chris came back to London in the 1960s - but the less said about that the better apparently.
Finally the self-proclaimed "ugliest man on radio" stumbled into broadcasting via the sports department of BBC Radio Brighton, alongside some bloke called Des Lynam!
It wasn’t long before Chris headed north and finally settled in the Midlands, where he’s tickled and tormented listeners on a number of radio stations, most noticeably Century 106's Late Night Phone in - but that didn't last too long, plusboth commercial and BBC stations.
Chris is a sad but fanatical football supporter, and to prove he’s a caring sharing kind of a guy has browbeaten his wife Margaret, son Gregory, and grandson Alex into joining him.
Whereabouts:
These days he amuses himself on Radio Shropshire’s mid-morning programme by driving the long-suffering ‘Matron’ to distraction. He says of the programme: "It’s a mix of music, chat, debate gags and gaffes. We never know if it’s going to work or not from one day to another, but it keeps us on our toes."Despite his looks, Chris remains cheerful, and enjoys the daily dose of conversation, competitions and chaos that make up a morning at Radio Shropshire
His listeners sometimes feel compelled to phone in and tell him off on Matron’s behalf. Some even come in to the studios in person to have a word, but after catching sight of Chris at the microphone more often than not leave the building shaking their heads and muttering ‘what a face, poor thing’.