Delilah Says Radio Show Is 'Like My Sanctuary'
Millions of listeners tune in to hear their late-night radio companion.
Nov. 12, 2008— -- In the dark of night her voice is a constant companion. From the lonely to the lovesick, even just the good old-fashioned sentimental, they all tune in to hear the woman known simply as "Delilah."
Every night on more than 250 radio stations she woos listeners with a soft touch that was once described as an all-night "chick flick."
"I know it sounds weird," Delilah told "Nightline." "The minute I walk in the studio and put my headphones on, I am in a good mood no matter what's going on in my life [or] what's going on in the world. It's like my sanctuary."
Standing nearly 6 feet tall, the 48-year-old woman born Delilah Rene Luke has in fact turned a recipe of schmaltzy love talk, relationship advice and sappy love songs into a playbook for one of the most successful radio shows in America.
"It blows me away the number of truck drivers or macho guys that will call and then I start peeling back the layers and I find out they've been listening to me for 10 or 15 years and they know every lyric to every sappy song," she said.
'I Get More Calls From Men'
The typical Delilah caller is not who you might think.
"Oddly enough, even though our show is structured around women, our target audience is women, I get more calls from men every night than women," she said.
She broadcasts her sultry brand of wisdom from a private studio in Seattle where a small army of Delilah staffers fine-tune the show for broadcasts across the United States and Canada. This includes screening thousands of calls and emails, many of which take on a familiar theme -- relationship troubles.
A trademark of the show is a steady diet of every love song imaginable. Delilah relished the over the top, drippy feel to the music that many would find better suited for an elevator than an iPod.
Music is the soundtrack for a show that Delilah says is all about love. She likes to say, "love is all that matters," and she talks about it with the confidence of a woman who seems to know the secret to it.
