DJ Chris Moyles on I'm a Celebrity, his lifelong obsession with radio and returning to Yorkshire for a 90s show and to see Leeds United

“Apart from having to get up early, [radio] is such a good job and I’ve been so lucky because it’s offered me so many opportunities and experiences,” Moyles says. “Getting to meet my favourite bands, famous people, getting to know them...It’s like winning a competition everyday with the risk of sounding horrendously cheesy.”

These days, Moyles can be heard in the breakfast slot of London-based Radio X, presenting The Chris Moyles Show six days a week. But his career started much closer to home, with a fascination for radio that grew through his teens.

“Like you do when you’re young and discover something you like, you get obsessed with it. You want to know how it all works - what are those things called where they sing the name of the radio station and the DJ’s name? Who picks the songs? How do they put phonecalls on the air?”

It was during his school years at Leeds’s Mount St Mary’s Catholic High, that Moyles had his first taste of radio with Wakefield’s Broadcast to Hospitals Service (WBHS), a voluntary-staffed hospital station. From there, he moved to former Leeds station Radio Aire, where he landed a Saturday evening show in the early 1990s.

Later this week, he is back in his home city for a DJ show celebrating the music of that first decade of his career. Still a loyal Whites supporter, Moyles is also hoping to go with his dad to see Leeds United take on Brighton this Saturday. He’ll be bringing his DJ show 90s Hangover to Leeds O2 Academy on Friday before heading on a nationwide tour. “It’s basically like a big 90s disco,” he says. “You can expect an amazing night of 90s music and lots of singing, lots of jumping up and down and you will leave very happy.

"I’m so excited. I love going home to Leeds. To play the O2 Academy is a real treat...I’ve queued up, paid my money and gone and watched gigs [at that venue] and to be able to play there is brilliant.”

The nineties saw the now 49-year-old move away from his hometown, with stints at Radio Luxembourg and Capital FM, among others, before he joined Radio 1 in 1997. There, he later became host of the most revered slot on the nation’s airwaves and he remains the longest running breakfast presenter on the station, having hosted The Chris Moyles Show from 2004 to 2012.

Still the voice of the morning for many, the irreverent DJ has been lauded for setting audience records, but he has also incurred his fair share of controversy thanks to his outspoken manner. He is well aware his bluntness has not been met with universal approval, yet he is still a household name, and one with a loyal fan base.

“I’m still immature but I’m older,” he reflects. “I think the radio show has changed from what I was doing on Radio 1. It’s still me and there are still a lot of the same things that make me laugh but I’ve just got older and I think the show reflects that.. Equally, even though we have new people finding the show all the time, my fan base, my key audience, has moved with me.”

“There’s things I’m more interested in now that I wasn’t interested in [before],” he adds. “I’m interested in politics whereas before I couldn’t give two monkeys about it. My life changes.”

For a period last year, it changed dramatically, although admittedly for only a short length of time. Moyles became part of the latest group of celebrities to head to Australia as I’m a Celebrity aired for a 22nd series.

It’s an experience he describes as “absolutely everything”. “It’s like you’ve fallen into the TV,” he laughs. He recalls how he went from watching the show each year to living in camp, with its recognisable red phonebox and an innumerable amount of critters. “It was brilliant and weird and bonkers and it all feels like a surreal dream.”

When he landed back in the UK, Moyles video called into his own show to dish the dirt on his time in the jungle. But whilst radio gives him a platform to talk about all manner of topics, there are some he has found more difficult than others. "Anything bad that happens in your life, it’s tricky to do a radio show and try and be very happy. I’m lucky I’ve got a show where I can say I’m tired today, I’m in a bad mood, but there’s other times it’s just not appropriate.

"When we got the breakfast show on Radio 1, it was the same year my mum got breast cancer and you’ve got to deal with all that. It’s tricky because as much as I can pretty much talk about anything, you don’t want to be discussing the intricacies of that whilst people are having their cornflakes because you’ve got to keep things relatively light – and plus my mum probably doesn’t want me shouting things from the rooftop.”

She’s “great” now, he’s quick to add. So is he. “I’m lucky that I really enjoy what I do. I still love doing radio. And let’s be honest I’m basically paid to p*** about and make an idiot of myself and have fun with my mates in a morning. It’s just brilliant.”

Chris Moyles' 90s Hangover show will tour the UK this year, coming to his hometown at the Leeds O2 Academy on March 10 and Sheffield in May. For tickets, visit https://bnds.us/61ah7v