Former Radio 1 presenter Dean McCullough has presented one of his final links for the network, but in a social media post, has hit out at the BBC, claiming he 'sacrificed part of his voice'14:17, 02 Sep 2026A former Radio 1 star claims he "sacrificed" part of his voice when joining the network. Dean McCullough, who also appeared on ITV's I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! was one of several presenters to leave the BBC following a major shake-up on the network.‌Dean, along with Rickie Haywood-Williams, Melvin Odoom, Nat O'Leary, James Cusack and Swarzy were also part of the group to face the chopping block. They had been replaced by TikTok creators Charley Marlowe and GK Barry, sparking backlash.‌But now, as Dean prepares for his final link for the BBC, he took to social media to speak out after spending six years at the network. Prior to landing his role at the BBC, Dean, 34, worked at Gaydio, but has now claimed that the job at Radio 1 also came with major setbacks.‌Sharing a video on Instagram, he said that he had been "nervous" about arriving at Radio 1. Captioning his post, Dean wrote: "This audio is a link from my Radio 1 show this morning. I wanted to speak openly about my feelings of arriving at BBC Radio 1 6 years ago already broadcasting as an out and proud as a gay man."I'd spent 3 and a half years at LGBTQ+ station Gaydio being outspoken and opinionated on air. Moving to the BBC meant sacrificing my public views and in tern, a part of my voice. It's not been easy and I've had to do a lot of my advocacy in the shadows."‌He added: "But this chapter has been full of learnings and I wanted to take a moment to say thank you to my listeners and producers, the people that matter, for just allowing me to be me. You've no idea how much that means to me and for other queer people in this space.‌"And look, it's not my story to 'fit in' and 'be everyone's cup of tea' that extremely boring to me. If I've learnt anything in my 16 years of being a presenter it's 'speak from your heart and the right people will hear you' My last show on Radio 1 is Thursday 5-7am."Those employed by the BBC are subjected to the corporation's impartiality guidelines. Their principles state: "The BBC is committed to achieving due impartiality in all its output."Presenting his show this morning, Dean said: "Whenever I arrived at Radio 1, I was really, really quite nervous, and maybe I'll find a clip of my first show, but I was really nervous because I'd been used to being on an LGBTQ+ radio station. Gaydio is is a really, really important radio station, and that's where I cut my teeth.‌"And when I got to Radio 1, I thought, 'Gosh, am I going to be able to be myself? Am I going to be able to be out and proud and unapologetically gay? Is that going to be—is that going to be for me, or are management going to tell me like, 'not too much', and 'can you just change the way you speak a little bit?'"He went on to say that this didn't happen, but while he suffered some "horrific" comments online, most messages he received had been supportive. "I'm really proud that my journey at Radio 1 meant that I was able to be myself," he said, adding: "So I just wanted to say thank you for that, and for allowing me to be myself."Dean continued: "But I just wanted to mark this moment and say to anybody, anybody right now who's listening, please never dim your light. Never, ever change who you are to fit a relationship, a workplace, a school place, a business, just stay true to you, because you'll be glad of it."Article continues belowAt the time his exit was announced, Dean said it was the "time to spread my wings," after six years at the network, adding: "It's time for a change, I'm ready and very excited for the future!"The Mirror has approached BBC Radio 1 for comment.