Who would have thought the bakery section in Sainsbury’s Garthdee would hold the key to unlocking a BBC Radio 1 presenter from a rather sweaty campervan.
Following a phone call from producers at 6.45am, Abbie Little headed to her local Sainsbury’s with one destination in mind; the bread aisle.
The 22-year-old had been listening to Radio 1 all week, following their Summer Breakout.
After thinking he was going on a summer holiday with his fellow presenters, Radio 1 DJ Greg James was locked in a campervan.
The only way out was to enter a secret code, and the only way to find that code was to solve puzzles and find clues scattered across the country.
Throughout the week, clues such as fish and chips, giraffe and beach ball were unveiled, but none opened the locked campervan door.
Abbie on the case
A budding radio presenter herself, Abbie has appeared on Radio 1 in the past and was keen to do so again, this time helping to crack the code and set Greg free.
Previous clues hinted that supermarkets may be something to do with the plot, so when locations of certain supermarkets across the UK were revealed, and one was in Aberdeen, she jumped at the chance to get involved.
Abbie said: “I’ve been following it all week, I study radio so I’m very much a fan of Radio 1.
“On Wednesday, the clue was a big list of random words, nobody knew what on earth they were but then someone put them through an app to see what the locations were and one happened to be Sainsbury’s in Garthdee.
“I spoke to a few of the producers and then I got on with Greg and he said ‘I need you to go down to Sainsbury’s and have a look.'”
She used to work at the supermarket so was the perfect woman for the job.
The final piece of the puzzle
Back in 2012, three-year-old Lily Robinson’s letter to Sainsbury’s went viral after she suggested that they rename their tiger bread to giraffe bread, as the resemblance was closer.
The previous giraffe clue seemed to tie in with the supermarket one, leading Abbie straight to the bakery aisle.
She said: “I got down and I was standing at the giraffe bread. There were stickers on them which had _ _zle written on.”
When combined with stickers found in two other supermarkets, the word spelled bamboozle.
THE GIRAFFE BREAD CLUE #R1SummerBreakOut @BBCR1 pic.twitter.com/PoJv71ULqb
— abbie little (@abbbielittle) July 22, 2021
Abbie was the final piece in the puzzle, as this word unlocked the campervan and set Greg free.
Overall, Greg James spent 62 hours locked in the campervan.
“Everyone was just walking past it”
Abbie spoke about how surreal it felt that the clue had made it’s way to her local shop.
She said: “It was just amazing, I’ve been listening all week and then it just happened to be that I was two minutes up the road.
“Everyone was just walking past it, people were just picking up the bread and putting it in their trollies, they didn’t even notice the massive sticker on it.”
A trip to the BBC broadcasting house in 2011 was what secured her desire to work in radio, so the experience also allowed her to speak to one of her idols.
She said: “I was more excited than nervous I think, it all just got very exciting.
“It was so cool getting to speak to him [Greg], because he’s played a big part in my decision about my career.
“I got to take home a giraffe bread and sticker, one day if I ever make it to Radio 1 I’ll be like ‘look what I’ve got!'”