“I’d interviewed Eminem when he was very young…[but when] the fame had happened he was just this other creature altogether”

Jo Whiley has recalled an interview with Eminem and Dr. Dre that made her “feel so tiny and so stupid”.

The broadcaster opened up about her time interviewing the rap icons during a recent episode of her Dig It podcast, which she presents with Zoe Ball.

During the episode shared yesterday (August 4), the two presenters took a question from a listener, who asked them to recall which interviews they did that left them feeling “starstruck”.

Whiley, who has interviewed the likes of David Bowie, Barbra Streisand and Noel Gallagher, then shared how an interview with Eminem and Dr. Dre affected her professional confidence.

“I remember interviewing Eminem and Dr. Dre once, and that was horrible,” she began. “I’d interviewed Eminem when he was very young and he was very shy and polite. He kept calling me ‘ma’am’ all the time, and he was really, really sweet and humble.”

She added: “Then a couple of years later he came back on the show but with Dr. Dre and the fame had happened and he was just this other creature altogether.

“They were so playful with me. They made me feel so tiny and so stupid, and it was a really unpleasant experience. I did not enjoy that.”

She went on to share that when it came to the feeling of being “starstruck”, it was usually people from outside the music world that stuck with her the most, namely Mary Berry, Monty Don and Will Ferrell.

Whiley has been in the broadcasting industry for years, having hosted her Jo Whiley Show on Radio 1 between 2001 and 2011, then transferring over to Radio 2. She is also the main presenter for all of the BBC’s coverage of Glastonbury Festival.

Her recent Dig It episode isn’t the first time that the host has opened up about how her professional confidence has shifted over the years. Back in 2024, she told Women’s Health that she had to overcome intense anxiety and self-doubt to progress in her career.

“I remember doing one gig and I was just so scared, I thought ‘I can’t go on like this,’” Whiley told the outlet. “’This is ridiculous. It’s ruining my life because I’m just such a ball of anxiety’.”

She added: “But then I realised how happy it was making people when I do these gigs and that was a game changer.”

As for Eminem, the rapper recently shared a new trailer for his documentary film, which will see him meet with real-life ‘Stans’. It is set to be shown in select theatres for one weekend only, beginning on August 7.

His last album, ‘The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce)’ was given a three-star review from NME last summer. It read: “Much more powerful is ‘Temporary’, a genuinely moving ode to his daughter, Hailie, which proves Marshall Mathers can say something that matters when he wants to.

“So, who killed Slim Shady? In bringing him back to the light and showing him up as irrelevant, perhaps Eminem’s done his old pal in for good. OK, we get it – Shady was a shocking character. Now that he’s dead, how about getting some new material?”