Cowell to cop it

Radio boss Steve Penk is up to his old tricks again - this time getting one over on multi-millionaire pop supremo Simon Cowell.

The 96.2 The Revolution presenter, who recently bought the station, hosts the flagship weekday breakfast show.

Renowned for his wind-up phone calls, Penk was tracked down by comedian pal Peter Kay in a bid to make Cowell scowl.

The Bolton comic recently starred as Geraldine McQueen in his X Factor spoof show “Britain’s Got the Pop Factor . . . and Possibly a New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly on Ice.”

It was followed by a number one single making fun of the hit show, much to Cowell’s annoyance. Penk, who once famously wound up former Prime Minister Tony Blair, said: “Peter came to me for help after Simon Cowell publicly derided Geraldine’s debut single, ‘The Winner’s Song’, describing it as ‘pathetic’.

“I was asked to put in a call to Cowell winding him up over the whole spoof X Factor thing.”

But Peter decided a better idea would be to give his alter-ego Geraldine the chance to go live on- air and present her own Christmas Day show, during which she will get total freedom to have her say over Cowell’s unkind comments. Kay, speaking as Geraldine, said: “I couldn’t believe it. When my agent told me about Steve’s offer I thought it was just another of his wind-ups. But he told me I have the perfect face for radio.”

The (Mc)Queen’s Christmas Message will be broadcast on Christmas Day between 10am and noon.

Manchester-born Penk made his name at city centre station Key 103 and worked at Capital Radio and Virgin in London as well as presenting TV shows “TV Nightmares” and “TV’s Naughtiest Blunders”.

The station is based at the Sarah Moor Studios, Henshaw Street.

The latest Rajar survey into radio listening shows a 12 per cent increase in the number of listeners but the figures cover a period just before Mr Penk took over. The format has changed from local alternative music to more mainstream pop and classic hits.