Chappers announces his departure
Mark Chapman left the Scott Mills programme after around six years with Scott and ten and a half years at Radio 1.
Chappers said he was not retiring. At 36, he wanted to concentrate more seriously on sport and continue working with BBC Sport, Five Live and ESPN.
He also had a football book due the following year, titled Heroes, Hairbands and Hissy Fits.
Scott and Beccy repeatedly framed the departure as though Chappers had died or reached the “winter of his life”. Chappers objected that he remained alive, relatively young and very much employed.
Some listeners said the departure had ruined Christmas. Scott argued that it was the start of a new chapter rather than a tragedy.
Rafael Benítez’s message
Scott asked Chappers to think of the person he admired most from a north-west football club.
He then played a recorded message from Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez thanking Chappers for his support, apologising that he was leaving and wishing him luck for the future.
Chappers was genuinely impressed and initially did not know what to say.
Scott explained that obtaining the message had taken a great deal of effort. Chappers, a Liverpool supporter, said it had made his Christmas.
No emotional farewell
Chappers had specifically asked for no fuss, no hugs and no tearful final speech.
The team agreed that he would imitate the way a Sugababes member had supposedly left the group: go to the toilet near the end of the show and never return.
Scott suggested that listeners would then remember him as “the one that disappeared”.
They settled on five minutes to ten as the departure time.
Christmas plans and the final exit
Before leaving, the team discussed Christmas arrangements.
Chappers was travelling to Manchester and had hired a car despite driving only rarely. Scott talked about returning to see family and joked about local landmarks.
At the agreed moment, Chappers said he was desperate to use the toilet, picked up his newspaper and left the studio.
There was no formal final speech. Scott wished him an amazing Christmas, and the programme used the planned toilet trip as his understated exit.
The Chappers montage
A retrospective montage replayed memorable moments from his time on the programme.
The clips included Scott repeatedly calling him Joe Cole, the game Who’s Kissing Chappers?, jokes about his mother, an unsuccessful tango discussion and public descriptions of his photograph.
One contributor thought Chappers looked like somebody drinking alone in a pub. Another said he resembled a chef with a permanently surprised face.
The montage also included Chappers discussing piano lessons ending after he wet himself on the teacher’s stool, reacting in terror to animals in the studio and receiving prank calls from invented characters.
Beccy’s fake Dervla Kirwan call and repeated references to Rupert Penry-Jones also appeared.
The montage ended with affectionate thanks, multiple repetitions of Chappers’ name and the Rafael Benítez message.
Scott and Chappers still refused to hug, maintaining the deliberately undramatic tone of the farewell.
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