BBC star Ros Atkins to play Glastonbury alongside Idris Elba and Groove Armada

A popular BBC broadcaster has explained how he snatched up his unlikely gig at Glastonbury Festival this year. Ros Atkins, perhaps best known for his work on Outside Source, will be DJing at the Stonebridge Venue at this year's festival.

Writing on X on Monday, June 17, he said: "As I may have mentioned a couple of times, in an unlikely development, I'm going to be doing a drum and bass set [at Glastonbury]. And, not at all unreasonably, quite a few people have asked me variations on ‘how did that happen?!’ Well, there's a bit of a story here."

The former BBC World Service presenter, who will be sharing a line-up with Luther star Idris Elba, went on to explain that he's been receiving DJing lessons from drum and bass legend Ray Keith: "For two hours, Ray ran me through everything from the kit, to mixing techniques, to tune selection. I soaked it all up, taking notes as we went along."

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The former World Have Your Say star continued: "Over the next few weeks, Ray helped me work out what kit I needed to practise on at home (we settled on a Pioneer XDJ-XZ). It wasn’t, and still isn’t, entirely clear where this fits in our house, but my family was understanding enough to not let that stop me.

"Not long afterwards, Carl Gosling from The Social started mentioning the idea of me playing [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."

Ros won't be the only big name at Stonebridge this year: Marvel and D.C Comics star Idris Elba is set to appear. Meanwhile, Groove Armada- best known for their #11 hit "I See You Baby" - will also be taking to the stage.

Ros will play a DJ set on Saturday, June 29 from 3.30pm to 5pm at Glastonbury Festival. The festival will be held from Wednesday, June 26 to Sunday, 30 June and will feature a show-stopping line-up including Dua Lipa, Coldplay, and Keane.