Northern Ireland

Stephen Clements was good to be around

Bob Huggins, group head of news and sport at Q Radio, pays tribute to his former colleague Stephen Clements and shares some cherished memories of the broadcaster

Stephen Clements pictured with former Q Radio co-host Cate Conway
Stephen Clements pictured with former Q Radio co-host Cate Conway Stephen Clements pictured with former Q Radio co-host Cate Conway

I FIRST met Stephen in the late 1990s when he came into broadcasting in the days when he wore his hair curtain style.

I was reminded of this very happy first encounter just days ago when he published a picture of that very style on his social media account.

This kind of thing makes you drift back in time momentarily and you realise the brevity and fragility of life.

Stephen was good to be around: very friendly with a great turn of phrase matched with a wicked sense of humour.

Behind that funny facade was a very knowledgeable person who was always willing to lend advice and chip in with great ideas.

We worked together again many years later when Citybeat became part of Q Radio.

Read More: Stephen Clements' brother leads tributes to much-loved broadcaster

By this stage he had really honed his broadcasting skills and was creating quite a stir with his “must listen to” Breakfast show co-hosted with Cate Conway.

It was the biggest show in town in terms of stretching the boundaries and giving people a good old laugh as they made the dreary trip to work each morning.

Just a few years ago the most surreal event happened to Stephen and I on the back of a conversation we had about where we might spend our summer holidays with our families.

Stephen Clements
Stephen Clements Stephen Clements

Stephen opted to spend a week camping on the beautiful north Antrim coast and I told him he had chosen wisely.

What I didn’t realise was that his wife Natasha had booked their stay at premises run by my family.

When the Clements family arrived they duly settled in and went to the nearby restaurant for a meal.

During small chat with the proprietor, Stephen was asked where he was staying and what line of business he worked in - to which Stephen replied “broadcasting”. The owner said she knew a chap who lived in the village and also worked in broadcasting. “Who’s that”? inquired Stephen.

“Bob Huggins”, she replied.

“But I know Bob Huggins – I work with him”!

“Well” said the restaurant owner: "he lives just across the road in the camping barn.

“But that’s where I’m staying”, he exclaimed.

This was around 10pm and about ten seconds later my door bell rang.

I opened the door and there stood Stephen grinning like a Chesire cat.

You can imagine the shock for both of us!

That's a mental image I will always cherish.