Background and career
Timothy Westwood (born 3 October 1957), often known professionally simply as Westwood, is a British DJ and presenter. He was described by The Guardian in 2022 as "a veteran of the hip-hop scene whose opinions have been able to make or break upcoming artists for more than 30 years". He hosted the Radio 1 rap show and presented the MTV UK show Pimp My Ride UK. In 2013, he left Radio 1 and 1Xtra after nearly twenty years and returned to Capital Radio. Investigations by the BBC and The Guardian into Westwood's sexual conduct found seven women who accused Westwood of sexual misconduct between 1992 and 2017, as described in the 2022 BBC Three documentary Tim Westwood: Abuse of Power. In October 2025 he was charged with committing multiple sexual offences between 1983 and 2016, and in September 2026 with two earlier offences, in 1991 and 2004; he is to be tried on a total of seventeen charges in January 2027.
Timothy Westwood was born on 3 October 1957 in Lowestoft, Suffolk, England. The son of Bill Westwood, who later became Anglican Bishop of Peterborough, Westwood spent his early years in Lowestoft, where his father was parish priest, and moved to Norwich aged eight, when his father became vicar of St Peter Mancroft. He attended the independent Norwich School and the state comprehensive Hewett School in Norwich. He was diagnosed as dyslexic, and later said that, when at school, he was bottom of his class, "clueless at work and poor at sports."
Westwood's career started in the late 1970s and early 1980s when he helped set up sound systems in clubs in northwest London, taking opportunities to work as a DJ, and then warming up for David Rodigan. At the time, he played reggae and jazz-funk. Westwood was injured in a drive-by shooting in Kennington, south London, on 18 July 1999, after he had been playing at the Lambeth Country Show in Brockwell Park. According to police reports, gunmen on a motorbike pulled up alongside his Range Rover and shot him and his assistant. He alleged that the gunmen were gang members who had been threatening him to stop playing shows in the neighbourhood.
Westwood's first radio show was on the London pirate radio station LWR. He then moved to Kiss FM, which he co-owned. He was on Capital FM from 1987, and in 1994 he moved to BBC Radio 1 to present its new rap show. The show was launched with a live concert with the Notorious B.I.G. and Puff Daddy. The Westwood Radio 1 Rap Show was the top ranked hip hop show in the UK. His Radio 1 show was produced by his independent company Justice Entertainment, which also produced Chris Goldfinger's dancehall show for Radio 1 at the time. As of 2004 Westwood was a patron of the internal radio station at Feltham Young Offenders' Institution in west London. At the BBC, Westwood also hosted the weekday drivetime show for Radio 1Xtra from September 2009 until he was replaced by Charlie Sloth in September 2012. After leaving the drivetime show, Westwood continued his Saturday night Rap Show which now ran from 21:00 until 23:00 and was a simulcast on Radio 1 and 1Xtra. It was announced on 26 July 2013 that he was leaving the BBC after nearly twenty years as part of planned schedule changes, which took effect on 21 September. After leaving the BBC, Westwood re-joined Capital FM on its sister station, Capital Xtra, initially occupying the 21:00–23:00 slot on Saturday nights. His show on Capital Xtra then moved to 19:00–22:00, followed by 19:00–0:00, and then 19:00–23:00.
After creating and presenting the 1987 BBC Open Space documentary "Bad Meaning Good," he achieved further TV exposure in the late 1980s as part of ITV's late-night programming block Night Network, for which he hosted the programmes N Sign Radio and The Rap Show. He later presented a series of his own television programmes on UKTV channel UK Play, which has since ceased broadcasting.
Westwood hosted the MTV series Pimp My Ride UK which ran for three seasons, from 2005 to 2007. The show was an adaption of the American MTV series Pimp My Ride, featuring one car in each episode being renovated and customized ("pimped") to match the owner's interests. A special episode of the show called "Pimp Madonna's Ride" aired on MTV on Sunday 19 February 2006, the eve of the release of the single "Sorry". The interior of the van was pimped by MTV UK for the single's music video, which was filmed in London in January 2006. The exterior of the vehicle was kept original. At the time, Pimp My Ride UK was the most successful MTV UK production of all time and the second highest rated show in the history of MTV Europe.
