Morning Rick

Rick Edwards is to replace Nicky Campbell as the co-host of Radio 5 Live Breakfast, alongside Rachel Burden. 

Rick, 42, was born in Enfield, then went to Portsmouth Grammar for his A-levels, before taking a place to study maths at Pembroke College, Cambridge. He later switched to natural sciences. He started doing standup - and auditioned for presenting pop on T4, but missed out to Vernon Kay. 

He wrote a stand-up double act with Joe Wilkinson, Him and Her, seen on the London circuit: “We kind of played ourselves in that I was a kind of thrusting, entirely egocentric narcissist who’d written about 67 episodes of a sitcom entirely for himself, and Joe played my mother’s cleaner’s son, who was there merely to showcase the other parts. It was awful, but fucking funny”. 

He tried modelling, tutoring Ruby Wax's kids, and doing warm up for her children's show, then, at her suggestion, joined Princess Productions. Finally, he got a gig on E4. 

He was part of the Pembroke Alumni team in Christmas University Challenge, 2018; they lost 85-150 to Kings College London.