BBC news anchor Ros Atkins to play drum'n'bass set at Glastonbury

BBC news anchor Ros Atkins is to play at the Glastonbury festival this weekend.

In what he called an “incomprehensible” announcement and “unlikely development,” the presenter said he is billed to play a drum’n’bass DJ set at Glastonbury’s Stonebridge tent on Saturday.

Atkins, 50, began DJing during his time at university and spent the late '90s and early '00s playing sets in Regent’s Park, Brixton and Johannesburg.

The Glastonbury gig opportunity follows one of his biggest performances yet, in 2022, when he played alongside drum‘n’bass DJ and record producer Ray Keith.

Keith had helped him to get to grips with the latest digital technology and “not long afterwards,” Atkins wrote on X, formerly Twitter, “Carl Gosling from The Social started mentioning the idea of me playing Park Stonebridge at Glastonbury. ‘Really?!’ I replied. ‘Really’, he said. Before long, Carl messaged to say we were on - and I took a very deep breath.”

“What started with a one-off drum and bass set for BBC6Music two years ago has ended up here. Very grateful for the invitation. Work on the set has already begun...”

The Outside Source presenter has been inundated with questions about the set along with well wishes from his followers.

Addressing them on the platform, he wrote: “I haven’t remotely got used to the idea. I’m incredibly grateful to the invite and to @BBC6Music, Ray Keith, The Social and others who’ve encouraged me along the way … Hope to see some of you there.”