Heart Essex (formerly Essex Radio and then Essex FM) was a British commercial radio station. It was launched on 12 September 1981, broadcasting from Southend-on-Sea and since 27 October 2004 from Chelmsford, both in Essex.

Heart began as Essex Radio in September 1981 broadcasting on 95.3 MHz & 1431 KHz to Southend-on-Sea and 96.4 MHz & 1359 KHz to Chelmsford in December 1981. The station's FM frequencies were changed in 1986, with 95.3 becoming 96.3 (95.3 was handed to BBC Essex) and 96.4 becoming 102.6.

In 1989 the station split its AM and FM frequencies (as required then to do so due to a new Radio Act requirement to end simulcasting) and The Breeze began broadcasting on Essex Radio's old AM frequencies. The first song played was Cliff Richard's 'Wired for Sound'. In January 1994 Essex Radio relaunched as Essex FM. It was then rebranded as Heart in June 2009.

Essex Radio Group launched several nearby stations, including Ten-17 FM in Harlow in 1993, oldies station Breeze (now Gold Essex) in July 1989, and dance station Vibe FM (now Kiss 105-108) in 1997. Essex FM became part of the GWR Group (now Global Radio) in October 2000 from the Daily Mail and General Trust (who bought the Essex Radio Group in 1998).

Essex ( /ˈɛsɨks/) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west. Essex County Council is the principal local authority for much of the county, sharing functions with twelve district councils. The county town is Chelmsford. The southern Essex boroughs of Thurrock and Southend-on-Sea are governed separately as unitary authorities. It was established in antiquity and formed the eastern portion of the Kingdom of Essex. Sections of the county closer to London are part of the Metropolitan Green Belt, which prohibits development. It is the location of the regionally significant Lakeside Shopping Centre and London Stansted Airport; and the new towns of Basildon and Harlow.

The name Essex originates in the Anglo-Saxon period of the Early Middle Ages and has its root in the Old English Ēastseaxe (i.e. the "East Saxons"), the eastern kingdom of the Saxons. Originally (in 527 AD) it occupied territory to the north of the River Thames, incorporating all of what later became Middlesex and most of what later became Hertfordshire, though its territory was later restricted to lands east of the River Lea.Colchester in the north east of the county is Britain's oldest recorded town, dating back to before the Roman conquest, when it was known as Camulodunum and was sufficiently well-developed to have its own mint. Subsequently the Kingdom of Essex was subsumed into the Kingdom of England and Essex eventually became a county.

Lauren "Popey" Pope (born 29 September 1983) is an English glamour model, disc jockey, music producer and entrepreneur. She appears in the ITV2 show The Only Way Is Essex with fellow Essex female friend Lauren Goodger .

In 2007, Pope established herself as a DJ. As well as Nuts magazine naming her the "world's sexiest DJ", Pope has become a favourite for numerous London celebrity parties, playing for the likes of Ne-Yo, T-Pain, Jenna Jameson and Lindsay Lohan.^{[citation needed]}

Since becoming a DJ, Pope has also become involved in producing. In 2009 she worked with Heatwave to remix Broken by UK artist Pierre Lewis which reached number six in the Club Charts.^{[citation needed]} She is due to release more of her own material in 2011.^{[citation needed]}

In 2007, Pope designed and launched her own brand of clip-in hair extensions, Hair Rehab London, appearing on the ITV reality television series Tycoon. The show saw Peter Jones search for entrepreneurs with ideas that he helped turn into profit-making companies, while the eventual winner was chosen by the public. Pope came fourth out of the six contestants but continued to work with Jones after the show on expanding her business.