Staff Reporter
HAVING interviewed a legion of political leaders, from Tony Blair to David Cameron and Paddy Ashdown to Tony Benn, getting a comment from a councillor in Javea or Orihuela must sometimes seem trivial.
But there’s never been a dull moment for Alex Trelinski, since he rocked up on the Costa Blanca 13 years ago.
Now the rock of the Olive Press reporting team in the east of Spain, it was certainly a change of lifestyle for a man, who worked since 1981 as a presenter, producer, and manager at the BBC.
Cutting his death at Radio Humberside, his first major interview was with actress Rula Lenska, which he conducted in Polish for 20 seconds to shock both himself and his listeners.
He went on to present hundreds of sports shows for over 25 years following the likes of Derby County and Nottingham Forest.
He also worked as a presenter for BBC Sport in London rubbing shoulders with presenters like Chris Evans and Chris Moyles, before becoming boss of Radio Derby.
Political programmes were also his passion and election night programmes were frequently anchored in the Midlands and the North.
Grilling the likes of ‘Red’ Ed Milliband and Neil Kinnock came easy, while not so easy was handling a drunk councillor suggesting studio guest Margaret Beckett wasn’t wearing underwear, live on air.
His most memorable broadcast moment came when he was dragged from the pub on a Sunday night in 1989 to present all-night coverage of the Kegworth air disaster, which killed 47 people as the plane landed on the M1 motorway.
His reporting team went on to take an international award for its coverage.
Come the late noughties, he approached his personal half-century and fancied a life change and a move abroad.
Spain and the Costa Blanca came out of the hat, and Alex has worked on local radio and other media over the years before ending up in a key role with the Olive Press.
Despite occasionally missing the BBC, it’s a move that he has not regretted.
READ MORE:
- Meet the team: The Olive Press digital editor and Madrid Correspondent Fiona Govan
- Life in Spain and in the press leaves no regrets for Olive Press News Editor Dilip Kuner
- MEET THE TEAM: From professional poker player to Olive Press webmaster, this is Kate Langshaw
