It’s not what you think – Chris Evans

I think it fair to say that Chris Evans is someone who divides the country. From his loudmouth days on the Big Breakfast through to the controvesy when he took over from the "Nation's Favourite" Terry Wogan on Radio 2 he's often been on the front pages with people praising and criticising him in equal measure.

As a teenager at the time I loved the Big Breakfast and also was a regular viewer of TFI Friday and Don't Forget your Toothbrush. When he then went back to radio I didn't really follow him, yet it was hard to escape all the stories in the media about him buying Billie Piper a fancy car, marrying her, moving to LA and losing it a bit. Finally though he came back to the UK, they separated, divorced and he seemed to have calmed down and grown up a fair bit. A Radio 2 afternoon slot came along and when all the "Sachsgate" scandal hit the station it was interesting to see that he was then seen as one of their dependable presenters whereas in years gone by you could well have imagined him as being in the centre of a similar mess.

When it was announced that he was to take over from Sir Terry I was very, very surprised. The whole fit just didn't seem right and the first few weeks I hated listening. Everything was so different to the Togmeister that I was used to easing me into the morning with his lrish lilt. Amazingly that change was over two years ago now and I have to say that in that time I've become a convert. The listening figures suggest that I'm not the only one with more people tuning in than did for Terry himself. Now, when he's away my morning routine is disrupted.

When I picked up a copy of Evans' first book, It's Not What You Think, I had no idea what I was going to think. The book covers his life in the pre-Billie Piper days, right from the early days in Warrington through to the Radio 1 breakfast show that he lost. The thing which struck me right from the start was just how hard working Chris has always been. From his first job as a paper boy following his father's early death it is fair to say that he has never been afraid of hard work. The tender way in which he describes losing his father and his relationship with his mother brings out a much softer side than what can come across on TV or radio.

If you listen to his radio show, or watch him on BBC's The One Show then I'd definitely recomment reading this book to understand where Chris come from and what makes him tick. It's all there from the paper round and being Timmy Mallet's assistant through to being the media star that he is today. Chris' second book Memoirs of a Fruitcake has carried the subtitle "From Billie to Breakfast" and I'm certainly intrigued to read about what also went on in that period of his life.