A BBC star has recounted a time when he found himself homeless, forced to “sleep on park benches” after going through a “chaotic time”. DJ Charlie Sloth admitted that he found himself in a difficult situation when he was just 16, but a homelessness charity soon helped him to “turn his life around”.

The producer, 44, previously hosted the late-night weekday slot as well as Saturday night’s The Rap Show on BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra and is best known for creating and fronting the freestyle rap programme Fire In The Booth. Prior to his DJ career, he revealed that he was made homeless following a family fallout, adding that the homelessness charity Centrepoint was “instrumental” in helping him out of the situation. Speaking to The Big Issue, Sloth said: “I was homeless at 16. I struggled with rules and discipline and order. I was a very chaotic youth. My parents didn’t want me in the house. For the first few weeks I was couch surfing, but that can only last so long. Stubbornness kicked in.”

He continued: “I was like, I’m not going home, and started sleeping on park benches. I never told anyone that’s what I was doing.

“There was a park in Camden called St Martin’s Gardens, which closed every night, and I used to climb the fence and sleep in there. One night I got drunk and didn’t wake up till 11 o’clock. Obviously, there’s people walking past and seeing this kid sleeping on the bench.”

Speaking about how the charity stepped in, the DJ added: “A woman started talking to me who worked for a charity called Centrepoint. They stepped in, got involved and were instrumental in turning my life around and giving me the support system to help me move out of the situation that I was in.

“Sometimes it’s very difficult to believe in yourself when things aren’t going well, but all it takes is one person to put a bit of belief in you, for you to realise that anything is possible.”

It took a while for Charlie’s living situation to massively improve, as by the age of 22 he became a dad for the first time. He shared: “We were living in a garden shed where there was no sanitation and I was working long hours every day for not very much money.

“I was struggling to buy nappies and milk. But my experience of homelessness was a motivator, not wanting to go back to that.”

The former BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra DJ left the station in October 2018 after working for the broadcaster for nearly 10 years following his foul-mouthed outburst at an awards ceremony which he later apologised for.

His Fire In The Booth segment, which originally aired on BBC Radio 1Xtra before moving to Apple Music in 2019, has attracted appearances from stars including Stormzy, Bugzy Malone and Drake. Read the full interview with in this week’s Big Issue.