A week in the life of: Jacob Cummings, co-host of Wake Up UAE! on Channel 4 FM

Sunday

Starting the week with a 4:30am wake up is not easy but it’s worth it knowing that you’re making someone else’s day. I arrive at the studio around 5:00am and the mics go live at 6:00am. We have to ensure the show is completely planned beforehand, and during the four-hour show, co-presenter Nimi and I are on air chatting up to 30 times. The show finishes at 10:00am and that’s when my day truly kicks off. Post the show we pre-record interviews and features, plan for the next day’s show and look at what is coming up in the months ahead. I finish in the office around 2:00pm and head home and spend a few hours on Netflix before going to the gym at 6:00pm. A healthy dinner follows then bedtime at 8:00pm.

Monday

The alarm rings again at the crack of dawn. The show is good to go with a fresh set of content and ideas to get the listeners involved. The show feels like a couple of mates hanging out and we want our listeners to feel like they are part of the group. I head back to my desk with co-presenter Nimi and producer Lucas to plan ahead, followed by some time with our social media team to go through strategies and online content ideas on how to keep our social followers entertained. Later that day we go out into the desert to film a video of Nimi and I dune-bashing. It’s great that we get to do these things and class it as work, but some of our activities are a bit more challenging – like eating food so hot you feel like you’re about to pass out. That happened when we were invited to Miss Tess Dubai to try out their ‘spicy noodles’. I can tell you now it was super-spicy. I genuinely cried.

Tuesday

Probably my least favourite day of the week even though it’s ‘hump day’. As usual, mics are on at 6am, we finish the show and rattle through planning afterwards. We have a mid-week look back at what we’ve done in the week so far and what we want to do the following week. This usually ends with me saying we need to start acting like our job is hard otherwise the bosses might think that we’ve got it too good. After some forward planning it’s gym time again, followed by a dinner with one of our major show sponsors, Atlantis The Palm. We catch up at Nobu before heading home at 11pm.

Wednesday

The week is flying now and ending soon, but today is a busy one. After the show and the forward-planning finishes, we head over to Dubai World Trade Centre for a 30-minute interview with The Singing Dentist. Once that is over, I get a free check-up and race over to Hariott-Watt University Dubai to attend an event they have panned. We try out some of the attractions, inspire a few students, meet with some incredible people, take a few pictures and my favourite thing of all, get fed pizza.

Thursday

A while ago we wondered why the whole world should get TGIF (Thank goodness it’s Friday) while we in the emirates are not able to celebrate it. So, we invented TGIT (Thank goodness it’s Thursday). Vibes are always good on Thursdays, and after we end our show, we head into the boardroom for a weekly chat on the show and what’s coming up.

Friday

How good is the weekend? I manage to sleep in till 7:00am today, which is the best I can do as my body is so used to getting up at crazy o’clock. Old me would cry, but when you’re used to waking up at 4:00am, it’s not a bad upgrade. I have a video call with the family back in Australia and catch up on life before heading out to chill with some friends at the beach. We always do something together, whether it’s the beach, the desert, a trip to Abu Dhabi, or something similar. This particular funky Friday turns into a weekender with a hotel stay to make it feel like I’m on holiday.

Saturday

Today I sleep in a tad long than on Friday, which is such an amazing feeling. Most Saturdays I’m with mates again, but today I spend the day chilling alone, heading home from my overnight staycation to shop and clean the apartment. It’s a relaxed day that ends with Netflix, dinner at a restaurant and an early night ready for yet another crazy hectic week in the life of Jacob Cummings.