Guinness book of world records labelled Monday as the worst day of the week in 2022. While this would normally dissuade some, Ben Kittoe seized this as an opportunity to start a new show called, you guessed it, The Worst Day of The Week Show. The roots of this show trace back to the radio show Ben started, alongside his friend and flatmate, Sanay Benur, in 2024 called Friday Night Mixtapes where they played music relating to unique and funky themes. While Friday Night Mixtapes laid the foundation, The Worst Day of The Week Show took on its own life, growing into something they never anticipated.

“Turn the worst day of the week into the best day of the week.”

In this feature piece, Max Bromfield, the @Kings editor, and I sat down with Ben and listened to him talk about the radio show, explaining the reasons and the origins behind it. He talked passionately about where it all began and how the show has grown to become so much more than they had initially planned.

Where it all began

Starting Friday Night Mixtapes was an easy decision for Ben, with his background in music and acting he was always drawn to the world of arts and loved sharing his own experience in it. The radio show went on to win KCL Radio’s Best Newcomers of The Year 2024 and that’s where Ben decided to do more. Starting WDOTW as a fresh new page with bolder ideas and more of an expansion, Ben still wanted to pay homage to the music they used to play every Friday. The application of the radio show was a relatively easy process with Ben giving special thanks to the president of the Radio Society, Tash, who was especially welcoming and accommodating to new radio shows.

Ben Kittoe with his family. Image credits: Ben Kittoe.

Ben also gave thanks to his mother and friends, the people who helped guide him in the process of beginning WDOTW Show. Being an artist herself, his mum was able to give him constructive and helpful feedback on every radio show of his, something Ben kept very close to his heart.  He sweetly recalled all the comments and changes his mum suggested that made the show what it is today.

“This is only possible because of the people around me.”

“My mum is always listening; she’ll tell me if its rubbish.”

Even the branding of WDOTW Show was something influenced by his close circle. While Ben originally had the idea of what he wanted the show to be and how the marketing would be presented, he was glad to take the advice of those around him about changes to make to the logo and the colour theme to pick out, resulting in the nuanced and relaxing blue shade being used now.

“I just liked the colour blue.”

How it’s going

The idea for the show initially started off as a radio show to bring awareness to small, local artists deserving recognition. This was a hard task for Ben as he initially felt really hesitant and unsure about reaching out to artists, fearing what we all would, straight up rejection. However, he has often been met with happy remarks and excitement at the opportunity of letting someone as passionate as them, display and talk about their music.

“Am I just making a fool of myself? This is too much”.

The show quickly grew from that, skyrocketing to several other ventures supported by the large team Ben accumulated in the time. He recalled sitting in a café with his friend, Romeo who pitched the idea of shooting and posting content including King’s students. Romeo Lipszyc is currently an aspiring DJ and content creator himself so for him this was an exciting challenge that he wanted to do since the beginning of university. Hence, started the Instagram reels.

“Why did we want to do it? I don’t know, we just did it” – Romeo

From left to right: Romeo Lipszyc, Sanay Benur and Ben Kittoe. Image credits: Ben Kittoe

Their first reel to blow up, with almost 44.5k views and rising, was a speed dating activity where they brought in two King’s students and asked them random and interesting questions to incite conversation. That is one of the main things Ben wanted with the start of his show: to incite conversation.

“I don’t think about likes and views, I think of comments.”

“We’re trying to get people to talk.”

Talk is what they did. Nearly all of the King’s campuses became aware of the phenomenon of the “dates guy” and now, when approached with a giant microphone and camera, many jump at the opportunity for their five seconds in the spotlight.  However, the fame didn’t come without its hardships for Ben, he suddenly became hyperaware of the fact that people that he didn’t know, knew him and the idea didn’t sit very well with him but he never regretted starting this multilevel organisation that spans several social media channels, amassing thousands of views every day. Even though he maybe started off as the “dates guy”, Ben Kittoe has built the brand to involve several well-known and large corporations like Ministry of Sound and even a new collaboration for Varsity 2025 with KCLFC. Regardless, don’t stop calling him the dates guy, especially because he does not like it.

“The dates guy, please don’t call me that, I have a girlfriend.”

Ben Kittoe setting up a speed dating video. Image credits: Ben Kittoe.

The Process

When asked about the process of the uploading and scheduling of content, Ben had no straight answer about it. While consistency is one of his main mottos when handling his brand, this does not necessarily come with a planned schedule of what to upload and when. In the first semester they tried to have a schedule but found to gain more views and engagement when they posted spontaneously and rather abruptly.

“Do we have a schedule? No”

Ben was initially scared to reach out to artists to present on his radio show but over time he realised the arrangement was mutually beneficial. Their first artists to air were actually friends of his and contacts he made through open mics. After that, once Ben gained more confidence in himself and his work, he was able to reach out via email and commenting under the artists’ posts to gain recognition and grow more. He hopes, with this work, younger upcoming people will look back at being on radio on his show with fond thoughts and no regrets.

“I find people who are really cool.”

What the future holds

One of the greatest hardships Ben had to face with starting and growing his brand was balancing this with his university work. Studying Modern Languages is certainly not for the weak and Ben had to find a way to balance all of this alongside his personal life. He initially only planned for this to be a one-year thing and had no idea of the fame it would skyrocket to. However, now he gets to leave a legacy at King’s that many strive to have. Ben hoped to achieve an almost Reggie the Lion success rate and the fact that he recently had him on his radio show (check it out on Spotify) just proves he has achieved his goal.

“Now, if I am to end this, it’s going to be really hard.”

When asked to describe the Worst Day of The Week Show in three words, Ben didn’t give it much thought and replied almost instinctively.

“Positive. Interesting. Unpredictable.”