Anyone who regularly tunes in to a particular radio station knows just how big a part of your life the friendly voices on the airwaves can become.

Whether it's waking up to the musings of your favourite breakfast show presenter, working through the day with familiar voices chattering through a speaker in the background, or driving home to the comforting sounds of your "drive-time" heroes – your station is an important part of your day.

So the thousands of regular listeners to GWR Bristol may be understandably concerned about the station's rebranding later this month to become part of Global Radio's national Heart network.

That is probably why former I'm A Celebrity contestant, and the voice of the Heart network's lunchtime show, Toby Anstis found himself taking the train down from the capital recently – in a PR exercise designed both to promote and reassure.

But John Chittenden, PR man for Heart FM, insisted that the visit was Toby's idea.

"He was really keen to come down and meet all the guys working in the GWR studios, and get to know Bristol a bit better," he said.

The transformation of the station will see Toby's daily programme, which is broadcast out of London, take over the prime-time slot, which is currently held by Philippa Collins.

"It is important for regular listeners to know that things won't be changing too dramatically," Toby says as he sips a coffee (in a newly branded Heart FM mug) at the studio, off Counterslip, in the shadow of Bristol's iconic shot tower.

"Although I'll be broadcasting out of London, the station will still have plenty of local content – with regulars like Bush, Troy and Paulina at breakfast still producing their shows here in Bristol.

"I think it's during the early morning rush hour, and later on during the drive-time slot, that people really want to hear local content, so they know if there are any road hold-ups and to get to grips with the local news.

"By the time my show comes on at 10am, mums are back home after dropping the kids off at school, and others are settled in work with the radio on in the background, so what they want to hear is great music and top level guests.

"The fact that we're broadcasting from London means we can get top quality guests into the studio on a daily basis, because it's just a fact of life I'm afraid that celebrities' diaries are so tightly packed, that they often don't have time to leave the capital.

"We've got some big names coming up over the next few weeks, including guests like Lionel Richie, who listeners simply would have missed out on before the switch over to Heart."

Toby's media career began in the early 1990s as the face of the CBBC "broom cupboard" – a continuity announcement role formerly taken by Phillip Schofield, Andy Crane and Andi Peters. The former ballet dancer, went on to front other children's TV programmes, including The Ozone and The Electric Circus. More recently he appeared as the presenter of National Lottery Live and was the first contestant voted out of the jungle in the 2006 series of I'm A Celebrity: Get Me Out Of Here!

He says he became a regular visitor to Bristol when his brother David was a student at the university.

"Actually I love Bristol," he says. "I've had a few heavy nights on the town when my brother was at uni here. It's a great city – there's a real buzz about the place. I can't wait to start broadcasting here."

GWR Bristol becomes Heart from March 23. To tune in, turn your dial to 96.3FM or online at www.heart.co.uk