Paddy O'Connell

It's disconcerting when a presenter you like in one radio slot suddenly pops up in another. Hearing Paddy O'Connell sitting in for Jeremy Vine (Radio 2) this week has been delightful, but ­confusing. I hear O'Connell's voice and automatically assume it must be time for an almond croissant and the Sunday papers. That aside, he has brought a lovely turn of phrase to the shows this week. I liked him telling Joshua Rozenberg, by way of ­introducing a particular question, "You have legal ears". O'Connell then ­contrasted his own: "I do not have legal ears". He ­described his hosting role this week as "plumping Jeremy Vine's ­cushions". On overweight ­passengers on planes, however, he spoke plainly: "Fat ones is what we're dancing round saying". What you really notice, though, is that O'Connell brings empathy and good manners to rival Vine's. He apologises for interrupting and "stepping on toes" in interviews. When one caller mentioned he was off to see his mother, who has vascular dementia, in a nursing home, O'Connell said: "Neil, what was your mum like at her peak?" It was off-topic, and Neil cried a bit, but it was a really generous question. Mostly, O'Connell is just very funny – "Galvanise for Steve Wright in the Afternoon" was his sign-off ­yesterday – but he's warm with it, too.