ABC’s long-term national overnight host Trevor Chappell finally sees the light

After 23 years as the ABC’s national overnight radio host, Trevor Chappell – not to be confused with the cricketer – has finally made the transition to daytime radio.

Now awake with the rest of us, Trevor Chappell has moved to Melbourne afternoons after 23 years hosting Overnights.

The ABC’s long-time national Overnights host Trevor Chappell admits that virtually his entire career has been dogged by a case of mistaken identity.

The problem is his name, which has long achieved high levels of infamy, particularly in New Zealand. That’s because in 1981, another Trevor Chappell unleashed perhaps the biggest hand grenade in the history of trans-Tasman relations: when he ended a one-day international between Australia and New Zealand with an underarm ball to ensure an Australian victory.

The furore that followed the underarm incident, way back when Chappell was starting out as a young adult, has been a legacy that he admits he has never quite escaped.

“Anywhere you go, you’ll get asked: ‘Are you the underarm bowler?’ Even on air, I still get asked if I am the cricketer. Years ago, a play was brought out in New Zealand, and they got Trevor Chappell the cricketer, me the broadcaster and the actor playing Trevor Chappell in the play to talk about it.”

The other Trevor Chappell bowls underarm at the MCG in Melbourne in 1981.

Thankfully, in his 23 years as a resident radio night owl Chappell has had a national platform to slowly clear up the confusion surrounding his name, and his loyal overnight listener base has long been fully aware that he is not, nor is he any relation to, the cricketer.

But to the shock of his legion of midnight-to-dawn fans, there has been an unexpected development in the broadcaster’s career.

Last week, Chappell began a new radio shift that for once does not involve him being up when most are asleep.

He started as the host of ABC Radio Melbourne’s afternoon show, replacing Jacinta Parsons.

While Chappell’s initial term hosting afternoons is six months, there is a possibility he could permanently end his nocturnal habits and keep the new shift.

Chappell admits that after decades as a night owl, he is still adjusting to the new hours.

He admits to having been “pretty nervy” during his first daytime shift last Monday. “I kept saying good morning and giving the wrong phone number (the overnight show has a national phone number). Things are so hardwired, that they become second nature,” he says.

Chappell also says the ABC overnight shift, which starts at 2am on the east coast but at midnight on the west coast, creates an intimacy, and interactivity, with audiences unmatched by any other radio timeslot.

Chappell describes Overnights as perhaps the ultimate bush telegraph: sometimes involving answers from unexpected quarters.

“You get miners calling in from Western Australia and Queensland. You get truckies calling in from long shifts. When people ring in with questions, you get answers. One time, I got asked a question: ‘Why do judges have tassels on the back of their robes?’ Then a real judge rang in and gave the answer: ‘In the old days, they used to tie money to back of the robes’.”

Chappell has also twigged, on occasion, that well-known broadcasters from rival stations ring in incognito.

But generally, overnights are all about the average caller, many of whom he notes have ultimately forged deep friendships outside of the show. “We always check with both sides to make sure they want to get in touch,” he adds.

Some of those loyal listeners have already contacted Chappell in the past week, to let him know they’re listening to him in his new timeslot — something he is humbled by.

Meanwhile, Chappell is still getting used to his sudden ability to lure high-profile guests onto his new show.

“It’s hard for producers to get well-known personalities on Overnights because of the timeslot. But in my first week on afternoons, I’ve already had (Gold Logie winner) Sonia Kruger and (Thank God You’re Here host) Celia Pacquola as guests.”