Carol Smith is back on air

After five years, Carol Smith is back on the airwaves. The 41-year-old former Class 95 DJ has joined Kiss92, helming a solo weekday lunchtime show from 10am to 1pm.

Smith has been in the industry since she was 19, but she still gets butterflies.

The bachelorette told The New Paper: "Although it is a return to radio, I am cruising aboard a different 'ship'so that keeps me on my toes."

During her stint away, Smith started Free To Be, a social enterprise that runs life-skills workshops, camps and seminars for at-risk women and teenage girls to empower them with a sense of self-worth.

On why she is returning to radio, she said: "I missed the energy and life that comes with this truly special mode of communication... Though it reaches many, to the listener, you are sometimes his or her sole companion - that is pretty precious."

Smith said her transition to Kiss92 has been smooth, as she bumped into a few familiar faces. After her first show on Monday, she was nervous yet excited.

"The morning team... gave me a warm welcome, but when they left, I was like a child being left at kindergarten on her first day," she said, jokingly.

But she warmed up and felt that everything had fallen into place.

She said: "It is so easy to channel surf these days, so the challenge is to keep listeners happy and give them something worth tuning in to."