Danny Malin: How I got my big break, went viral and found love - all thanks to radio
Before I presented Rate My Takeaway, I used to drive around in a butchers van delivering meat around West Yorkshire.
I loved it. I would blast the radio to keep me company on my journeys. Local radio was a lifeline during Covid, too.
It was during this time I started posting my comical skits online, which went viral, leading me to launch Rate My Takeaway on YouTube - and being invited as a guest on LDC Radio.
It was then that I met the guys at LDC Radio, including Dan Tidmarsh, who set it up for the whole team. It was a labour of love.
I was honoured to be invited to host my own show every Tuesday. While I had already been filming food reviews in the middle of the street with my table and chair, there was something even more nerve-racking and exciting, and that was going live on air.
Fortunately, the LDC Radio guys were very patient with me and helped me to push the right buttons. Not only that, but the romance with my now wife blossomed during an interview with her on the air on the radio.
It's full of funny and fond memories. Since then, I have become one of the directors of the station alongside Dan, Mark, and Darren.
We've taken the station to festivals, rallies and we’ve had summers working in Ibiza. We’ve also hosted raves and events. I’ve seen the power and hard work behind a grassroots radio station, and somehow while many others have sadly closed, the community and team behind LDC has kept it afloat.
There really is nothing like the West Yorkshire music scene. Sadly, however, my work commitments for my new channel Danny Vs Food, and Danny and Gary mean that I can’t commit to being a director on the radio, and I think someone else will be much more worthy of the role.
At the moment, I am travelling all around the world and I only tend to be home on a weekend, if that. While I’ll support LDC Radio as and when I can in person and attend the odd rave, my weekends will soon be filled with a newborn baby, and no doubt in the near future I will be back at the raves, but taxi driving the older kids to attend their first raves.
Wherever I am reviewing food, though, I’ll be sure to tune in tune up tuna sandwich.
And I urge you to do the same, as local radio and newspapers such as this are so important for the people, memories, and future of this region.