Jenny Collins, a pioneering British radio presenter and one of the founding voices behind BBC Radio Merseyside, has died at the age of 83, the BBC confirmed. Her death was announced on 2 January 2026, marking the end of a long and influential career in local radio broadcasting.<\/p>\n
Collins was instrumental in the launch of BBC Radio Merseyside in November 1967, helping shape the station from its earliest days. She was among the original team who welcomed the first listeners and helped build the station\u2019s reputation as a vital part of the community\u2019s media landscape. <\/p>\n
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\nOver the years, she became known not only as a presenter but also as a producer and senior editorial figure, taking on roles such as programme controller. Among her presenting credits were shows like Junior Spin, and she also produced popular programmes including Jazz Panorama and Write Now. <\/p>\n
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\nColleagues and former co\u2011workers paid tribute to Collins as a warm\u2011hearted and dedicated broadcaster. Broadcaster Roger Lyon remembered her as having \u201ca great broadcasting voice\u201d and described her as \u201ca genuinely lovely person\u201d who played an important role both in front of and behind the microphone. <\/p>\n
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\nMick Ord of BBC Radio Merseyside called Collins a \u201cwonderful, warm\u2011spirited woman\u201d whose contributions helped shape the station\u2019s identity and success. Her influence on local radio in Merseyside and beyond was widely acknowledged by those who worked with her.<\/p>\n
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\nCollins was married to Steve Voce, a journalist and former BBC Radio 2 presenter and columnist, who died in 2023. She continued to be associated with the station throughout her life and was remembered fondly by listeners and broadcasters alike for her lasting impact on UK local radio.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jenny Collins, a pioneering British radio presenter and one of the founding voices behind BBC Radio Merseyside, has died at the age of 83, the BBC confirmed. Her death was announced on 2 January 2026, marking the end of a long and influential career in local radio broadcasting. Collins was instrumental in the launch of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1029,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shockdaily.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shockdaily.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shockdaily.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shockdaily.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shockdaily.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1028"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/shockdaily.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1028\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1030,"href":"https:\/\/shockdaily.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1028\/revisions\/1030"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shockdaily.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shockdaily.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shockdaily.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shockdaily.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}