BBC star says Zoe Ball 'terrified' him with changes to show and opens up about new life

Adam Porter spent 24 years reading news on BBC radio before leaving in March 2025 after taking voluntary redundancy. However, when it is pointed out that people are interested in him due to his long radio career, he says he only became a "personality" when he began working on 's breakfast show.

Admitting it was "terrifying", he exclusively told : "No one really knew me until Zoe. She came in and wanted everyone all to be part of the show and share about their lives because that's what she did.

"And it was terrifying. I was just reading the news and was happy with that. But once I got over the initial nerves, she knew I'd be game to sing with Gareth Malone or do anything crazy on air. It was great fun."

Adam is being very modest as throughout his almost a quarter of a century with the , he became one of the most recognisable voices on the broadcaster, reading the news on , 6Music, and 5 Live.

His life now is a million miles from those days as he and his husband rented out their house and are currently living on a houseboat. Adam, who has a lifelong appreciation of canals and canal boats, says they made the decision to move to the boat before the voluntary redundancy came up, and the timing worked out perfectly.

"We had made the decision to move on to the boat, so when the voluntary redundancy came up, it all just worked out really well. It meant a lot of downsizing, though. We had to get rid of pretty much everything. Other than some personal items we have left in the loft of our old home, which our tenant doesn't have access to, we just purged it all."

He continued: "We sold a lot at car boot sales and it was funny because I found myself sticking on the price of certain things and then realising that there's no point in insisting you get more for something because you are stuck with it then. It was better to let it go for less."

Just weeks into their new life, Adam launched a podcast, The Water Road, which he felt was the perfect way to share his enthusiasm for canals and rivers. Asked if his husband rolled his eyes when he learnt their quiet life was again going to be interrupted by work, Adam laughed.

"No. He knows what I'm like. And I come from radio, so it made sense. There are dozens of canal YouTubers, but I thought the sounds would be a really interesting way to present it."

Adam's podcast has turned out to be a magazine-style show about the canals featuring interviews with people who live and work, and are involved with the waterways. Although he admits a lot of work goes into it, he said: "I'm only releasing it fortnightly, so two a month. And I've had no issues setting up interviews. The people I've walked up to and asked are always, thankfully, happy to do it."

As to if we could hear him back on the airwaves soon, he replied: "Never say never."

The Water Road is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and many of the smaller podcast platforms.