Justine Greene: Steve Wright’s death was a massive loss. Everybody wanted to be his friend and I’m lucky I was

BBC Radio 2 news presenter Justine Greene is finally “feline” good – but the cat lover admits it hasn’t been easy.

Opening up in P.S. today, as she throws her weight behind a national campaign to protect vulnerable cats and kittens, she revealed the crushing low of her own devastating bereavements and the heady highs of finding new love.

Justine, one of UK radio’s most recognisable news voices, revealed how she endured the unthinkable four years ago when her adored ex-police chief dad collapsed and died in front of her mum. Then in 2022, her “furry baby”, rescue cat Theo, 16, died, leaving her and his brother, Oscar, now 18, “devastated”.

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In February this year, her world was rocked again when the “best friend” who helped her in her grief, bringing laughter and joy, also passed away.

He was Radio 2’s legendary DJ – the beloved Steve Wright, 69. Justine revealed she was the last person he messaged from his mobile before his shock death.

Living with loss

Speaking from her home office in Kent, the broadcaster – who also presents BBC Radio 5 Live, 6Music and The World Service – told P.S. why, despite monumental loss, she counts her blessings.

She smiled: “You have to find the happiness every day, wherever you can, and be grateful for what you have because you only get one life, and you have to live it.

“I am a cat lover. We always had rescue cats in our family. They have given me so much. I don’t have children, I have furry babies, they mean everything to me. Oscar and his brother, Theo, were abandoned.

“They were bonded brothers, and they and their three sisters were kittens of a stray who was only 10 months old herself. They were rescued on the day they were born.”

Justine, an experienced actor who gives her services gratis to Cats Protection and is the voiceover for its TV winter appeal, explained: “I agreed to rehome them before I had seen them.

“When Theo died, Oscar was devastated and I was devastated. The whole issue of abandonment is so central to my little cat family, because without the work of Cats Protection, undoubtedly, a 10-month-old kitten who had five kittens herself would not have survived.”

Coventry born-and-bred Justine, 49, is the daughter of retired Detective Chief Superintendent David Greene and his wife, Pauline, and has a brother, Glyn, 51. She said: “We are all massive animal lovers. My dad was as well.”

And she chuckled: “My mum ended up with three cats because when they went to the RSPCA to collect two kittens there was a third, and my dad said, ‘you can’t leave her’.

“I lost my dad in January 2020. He collapsed and died in front of my mum. We had just had the funeral and thank God we did, 10 days later we went into lockdown.”

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Police officers turned out in force to pay their respects to the senior officer who after 35 years’ service and retirement went back to the force as a civilian to train Police Community Support Officers. Justine recalled: “At his funeral, young police officers came from all over the country because he was such an inspiration.”

Steve Wright memories

Justine, who has been broadcasting for 25 years, found comfort in Steve Wright. “Steve was my best friend. I used to speak to him every day. We were kindred spirits. We met through work, and he was very supportive professionally, but we clicked personally. We really bonded over him losing his mum and me losing my dad. The losses were a little apart, but we talked about them on and off.

“Steve was an amazing inspiration to everybody, and everybody felt he was their friend. With Steve, what you saw was what you got and everything coming through the radio was completely genuine. He was a brilliant person, warm, generous, compassionate, funny.”

It's been a devastating day @BBCRadio2 to discover the brilliant #SteveWright has left us.He was not only a radio genius but a warm, generous and caring man – not to mention funny. I'm honoured to have been his friend and spent so many happy days with him. #RIPSteveWright❤💔 pic.twitter.com/NllUXC0uUw

— Justine Greene (@justineclaire75) February 13, 2024

His death, she said, left “big gaping holes” in her life. “He was a massive loss. It is hard when you lose a very close friend, but he was also a very famous person and it was almost like he was everyone’s public property. It was in the papers, day after day, so it was hard to deal with. Particularly as he went so suddenly, and my dad went so suddenly.

“The last message he sent, he sent on WhatsApp to me. I have kept all the messages. We shared so much laughter at so many things that were funny and silly. I see things now and think, ‘I must tell Steve’. Everybody wanted to be his friend, and I am lucky enough to say I was.”

A life of performance

A painfully shy child, Justine admits it was ballet classes that turned her into a performer. “When I was six, I went on the stage, and it completely transformed me. I can remember the moment somebody sat me down in the dressing room and flicked on the lights around the mirror. Something in my brain clicked and I thought, ‘this is me’. Then, aged 10, I discovered acting.”

She auditioned for the major role of Bronia in The Silver Sword at the professional Belgrade Theatre in Coventry and nailed it. “It ignited the fire in me. I felt I was absolutely meant to be on the stage, so I started to do lots of acting,” said Justine, who each year “makes the pilgrimage” to Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival.

At 17, she co-wrote the play The Other Half and toured it in Russia, performing at the Gorky Theatre in St Petersburg, before taking it to London’s National Theatre. After graduating with a drama degree from Loughborough University she embarked on a post graduate course in broadcast journalism and went on to work in commercial radio and TV before joining the BBC. She hasn’t looked back – only forwards.

In 2023 she appeared in the critically acclaimed, powerful independent film, The Stupid Boy by Phil Dunn. Unexpectedly, it brought her love.

Justine – who for six fun years worked with TV and radio broadcaster Chris Evans and counts colleague Zoe Ball among her pals – revealed: “I had been on my own for quite a long time, but I have someone in my life now who I went to school with.

“After 31 years we reconnected because he heard me on BBC 6Music talking about the film I was in, and we met for a catch up. That was nine months ago. He is a partner in a law firm. It is very exciting. We have just been on our first holiday together in Madeira.”

Are there any other dreams in her life she is yet to fulfil?

“Professionally I’m not sure what’s left to do, but I’d love to do Strictly Come Dancing!” And what about Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats? “It would be like all my worlds colliding.”

£5 can make big difference

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Cats Protection launched its urgent Winter Appeal after shocking new data shows abandonment cases soared by 34% in a year, with cats averaging 39 days in care.

It is making an urgent appeal for donations to cover the rise in costs of care like food, shelter and medicine. In the first half of this year, basic veterinary treatment for abandoned cats cost the charity £50,000. Last year, Cats Protection helped 184,000 cats – that’s an incredible average of 500 cats per day.

As little as £5 is enough to feed a cat in Cats Protection’s care for 25 days and every contribution will go directly to supporting vulnerable cats and kittens in the charity’s care, until they are ready to start their next journey to a loving home.

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Its TV appeal, supported by Radio 2’s Justine Greene, is also being backed by Dame Joanna Lumley, comedian Abi Clarke and author and TV presenter Dawn O’Porter.

Justine said: “I was floored by not only the number of cats and kittens that require help every year, but the cost of providing it. The amount of work that goes into taking care of cats, and their owners, is outstanding and I am delighted to be supporting Cats Protection on this journey.”

Cats.org.uk