Paul Gambaccini and Noel Edmonds have hailed their former BBC radio colleague Steve Wright as “one of the greatest exponents of the art of radio” following his death aged 69.

The radio DJ was a fixture on BBC Radio 1 and then Radio 2 for more than four decades, attracting millions of listeners.

His former colleagues and friends were among those to remember him for his dedication to radio and as a “lovely kind man”.

Appearing on ITV’s This Morning on Wednesday, Gambaccini recalled how Wright would come into the studio hours before his show to ensure he was prepared.

“He knew what he was going to do (and) when and that’s when the greats like Noel (Edmonds) and Chris Evans shone.

“They made it sound like it was off the cuff, but it was really well planned.

“And Steve stayed afterwards, this was his life. He gave us his life for 44 years, five days a week and then six with Love Songs.”

Gambaccini also revealed the news was a shock to him as he last spoke to Wright on Saturday and had sent him two emails on Tuesday not realising his friend had died.

Wright took over Gambaccini’s long-running BBC Radio 2 show Pick Of The Pops last year.

Edmonds, who worked across BBC radio during his career, also described Wright as a “brilliant communicator” as he video called into This Morning from New Zealand.

He said: “We have lost one of the greatest exponents of the art of radio. And radio, if done well, is an art form.

“And I know Steve has been described as a DJ, for me he wasn’t a DJ, he’s been described as a broadcaster, I actually don’t like the term broadcasting because that rather suggests that you are shoving content out there, spray and pray and it might hit a listener or a viewer.

“That wasn’t Steve’s style. Steve was… a brilliant communicator, and the thing about being a communicator is, you are born with it. You can’t fake it.

“The microphone or the camera will find you if you are trying to be something you’re not and I think the reason why so many people are genuinely distressed by this premature departure is that Steve was a friend because he could communicate.”

Nicky Campbell, who was Wright’s colleague for many years, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It’s where he belonged. He was absolutely born to be in a studio, it’s where he thrived. It was his natural habitat.

“His heart soared when he was on the air and that was contagious. Our hearts soared when we listened.”

He added: “I liked him so much. He was such good company. He was so, so funny. And he had a waspish wit and he was a delicious gossip.

“He used to gossip about this place all the time. He loved the BBC but he was so exasperated with it sometimes, so frustrated with it sometimes, so funny about it. Any time spent with Steve was pure gold.”

His fellow BBC Radio 2 DJ Jo Whiley said: “He just understood radio and he understood what people wanted.

“He devoted his whole life to radio and to his listeners, it was absolutely everything to him. And all he cared about was making people happy.”

Chris Evans, who was also a stalwart on Radio 1 and 2 for many years before joining Virgin Radio, said Wright was to afternoons as Sir Terry Wogan was to breakfast.

Wake Up To Wogan on Radio 2 ran from 1993 to 2009 and was the most listened-to radio show in the UK.

Evans wrote on Instagram: “Oh my goodness. What terribly sad news.

“It goes without saying that Steve was the soundtrack to millions of our afternoons for decades. Nobody will ever come close to the length and breadth of the way he encompassed all things entertainment, in his own highly original and light-hearted style.

“He was to afternoons as Sir Terry was to breakfast. One half of the greatest morning and evening drive-time double act UK radio has ever had the amazing good fortune of having on its airwaves.”

Northern Irish broadcaster Gloria Hunniford recalled happy memories of chatting through her radio show with Wright when she was at Radio 2 and he was hosting at the same time on Radio 1.

She said: “I shall remember him with great fondness for his kindness to me at that time when I knew no one here in London, and all the fun we had working together.

“In my opinion he was one of the best broadcasters out there and a very lovely man with it.

“I send all my love and thoughts to his family at this sad time and we will all sorely miss this extraordinarily talented man who made millions of people smile.”

Wright was also a long-standing presenter of Top Of The Pops.

He last appeared on air on Sunday, hosting a pre-recorded special Valentine’s Day edition of his Love Songs programme on Radio 2.

The broadcaster joined BBC Radio 1 in 1980 to host a Saturday evening show before moving on to host Steve Wright In The Afternoon a year later until 1993.

Wright then fronted the Radio 1 Breakfast show for a year until 1995, and completed a stint at commercial radio stations before returning to BBC Radio 2 in 1996 to host Steve Wright’s Saturday Show and Sunday Love Songs.

In 1999, he recreated Steve Wright In The Afternoon every weekday on Radio 2, with celebrity interviews and entertaining trivia featured in his Factoids segment, before stepping down in September 2022 but he continued to present Sunday Love Songs on BBC Radio 2.

Former BBC Radio 1 host Scott Mills took over the afternoon slot as part of the station’s schedule shake-up.

Wright was made an MBE in the New Year Honours for services to radio.