No.1 for Interviews - Ross King
Ross King

Radio Clyde DJ and LA’s favourite entertainment anchor tells No.1’s Nadine Hawkins what it’s like to live in the Hollywood Hills and why he’s still a daft boy from Glasgow

Ross King is best known as Radio Clyde’s most successful export after moving to Los Angeles to audition for a role in a film. Ross joined Clyde on work experience and carried out his first broadcast at 16. In addition to hosting the Radio Clyde Sunday show from the comfort of his LA home, he reports for GMTV, works as an entertainment anchor for Channel 5 in the States, and is the voice of American Express as well as landing several movie roles. Ross lives in a dream home in the Hollywood Hills with his girlfriend.

First things first, what made you move?
The honest answer is I was bored. At that point I had just done the Rocky Horror show, I was also still doing the radio show but I just felt that everything I was being offered was the same.   I came out to LA and I decided I would stay for three months and see how I got on. Within two weeks I had an audition for a movie.

Have you ever had a make or break moment?
I have been really lucky because I have never been in the situation where I’ve been down to my last tenner. LA is very different to Britain though, here I would go to an audition and they couldn’t care less what my CV said. You would go in with your number stuck on your suit jacket and they were like, ‘Yeah whatever’. I ended up going to acting classes. When I was 15 I joined Clyde so I had learned my skill on the job rather than having any formal training. I think being older I appreciated it more. It was a real challenge. And now I am at a stage where I have 10 jobs! But it’s that west of Scotland thing where you don’t want to talk about it. We are quite self-deprecating. I did a photoshoot the other week and they said, “Why not get the awards out – let’s get a picture of you with the Emmys”. I was like, ‘no way!’ They were really surprised and said, “Why not, you should be proud of it”. I am but not in a in-your-face way.

Radio Clyde has obviously been a massive part of your life..
I joined Clyde at 15. In the beginning I did everything. I did a show at night and would get in at 7am then leave the house at 8am to go and work in the production department. I think of it like an apprenticeship. I remember reporting on the football at Love Street in Paisley, the weather was awful – it was blowing a gale and the sleet was bouncing off the ground. I was trying to push up the mast on the roof of the van; three times it slid back down. I remember sliding in the sleet and I was half sobbing and half laughing and I was thinking, ‘Why? What am I doing?’.  It sounds cheesy but when I go to the studio in the basement of my house and I press the button – the one button to link me up to Radio Clyde – I think ‘that is why I did it’.

What do you miss the most living in LA?
I miss square sliced sausage in a roll or with mashed potatoes and beans! God my trainer would have a heart attack if he heard me utter that! And I miss Scottish water – water straight from the tap! I remember when people used to laugh at the thought of bottled water.


Do you get homesick?
I got home sick only last week. I was having a barbeque  and I thought my mum, dad and my sister will be round later and then it hit me that they wouldn’t. So I called my sister and told her then we both had a wee cry. But I get home around five times a year. One time I went home for a weekend! It was my mum’s birthday and the Take That reunion tour – Gary would never have forgiven me if I missed that – so I flew back for a weekend. That was a ridiculous one. At the after show party Gary Barlow and I went back to Mar Hall and had cheese toasties! Rock and roll! I think because I am on GMTV and my family see me most mornings on the telly they don’t miss me as much. Scotland will always be home. I speak to my mum, dad and sister every day.

Do you notice a difference in the Scottish and American humour?
Occasionally I will say something and I have to say, “Scottish humour – American silence” – you have to emphasise the fact that it is a joke. For example, someone came into the studio the other day and said, “Have you seen Grace?” and I said in a deadpan voice, “Oh yes she went mad and we had to shoot her, terribly sad”. And the guy was like, “What?” totally incredulous. I practically had to drag poor Grace out the loo to prove she wasn’t dead!

What is a normal day like for you?
Well I get up and before I eat anything I go for a jog that’s got a bit of hiking involved too. I am lucky enough to live in the Hollywood Hills right beside the big Hollywood sign. In the old days when the sign used to say Hollywood Land they built some stairs up the side so I use them as part of my morning work out. When I get to the top I try and sing the Rocky theme – it’s completely impossible!

I have breakfast and then sometimes I do voiceovers for American Express. Then I go to a screening of a new film. Sometimes I pop into the restaurant I part own. Well to be honest I own a salt and pepper and possibly a chandelier too! Then I’ll do a pre-recorded interview for GMTV then off to another screening. I also work as an entertainment anchor for Channel 5 so I go and do my stint there, and then I will do GMTV again but live this time which takes me to about one in the morning. It is a really long day but I am lucky to be doing things that I love.

Is it difficult finding time to spend with your girlfriend?
It can also be difficult finding the time to spend together but she loves the same things as I do like movies and music so it means we can do our hobbies together.

What has been your most ‘showbiz’ moment?
Well everyday is a little different and I am not really in awe of anything but sometimes it does strike me as being surreal. A couple of weekends ago I was to interview Delta Goodrem and they couldn’t decide where to do the interview so I told them just to do it here. So Delta was playing the piano, the Scottish entertainer Allan Stewart and his family were staying with me and Bobby Davro popped in! Very bizarre mix of people. Another time I was to interview Michael Douglas and we decided Catherine and Michael would just stay with me and we would do the interview in my house. So we were doing a bit of filming and the Fed Ex guy arrived and said ‘Gosh it’s Ross from Channel 5!’ And then he was like, ‘Holy crap! It’s Michael Douglas!’ I remember thinking that LA is all very surreal. But I never lose sight of the fact I am a daft boy from Knightswood in Glasgow. From Knightswood to Hollywood! When I am doing the red carpet at the Oscars I laugh and I just remember that.

 

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