John Hannam has been interested in showbusiness and the theatre since the early 50s, when he first discovered Variety, at the Theatre Royal, Portsmouth. That love for the stage and its performers has never been lost. His enthusiasm for the business is as vibrant as ever. He also loves meeting people from all walks of life.
John began writing on showbusiness for local papers on the Isle of Wight, back in the late 50s. By the 70s he had a regular Stage Talk column in the Isle of Wight Weekly Post, and had started to write for The Stage. This has continued in the form of reviews and features, for the past 30 years.
He also moved into radio in 1990, as a chat show host for Sony Gold Award winning Isle of Wight Radio, the South Coast station on 107 FM, that can be heard into Hampshire, Dorset and Sussex and also on the internet, via www.iwradio.co.uk John Hannam Meets is the longest running chat show in the country, with 20 non-stop years. Among the 700 famous guests who have appeared are Sir Cliff Richard, Buddy Greco, Kate Adie, Ken Dodd, Jeremy Irons, Susan Hampshire, Prince Edward, Victoria Wood, Charlton Heston, Sir John Mills, Bruce Forsyth, Sir Norman Wisdom, Sir Tim Rice, Dame Vera Lynn, Brenda Blethyn, Twiggy, Sir Stirling Moss, Des O’Connor, Virginia McKenna, Honor Blackman, Michael Ball, Alan Rickman and Michael York. He was also invited to the set of Coronation Street to interview eight of the cast, including Liz Dawn, Bill Tarmey and Helen Worth. Recently Desmond Carrington used some of John’s rare interviews with Matt Monro, Anne Shelton and Malcolm Vaughan on his Radio 2 shows.
