Claudia Winkleman has announced that she is stepping down from her Saturday morning BBC Radio 2 show to spend more time with her family.
The Strictly star first joined the radio station to present the comedy quiz show Hot Gossip back in 2008. She later moved on to the Friday night slot with her own show, Claudia Winkleman Arts Show.
In 2016, she presented her self-titled programme Claudia on Sunday evenings before she finally joined the Saturday morning team back in February 2021. Now, after more than 15 years on the airwaves, the mum-of-two has decided to leave the show.
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The beloved BBC star is set to air her final show on the station in March 2024 before the launch of a brand-new show dominates the airwaves. The upcoming programme is set to be fronted by comedian Romesh Ranganathan, who currently presents For The Love Of Hip Hop for Radio 2.
His exciting new show will take over the Saturday morning slot. Claudia told the BBC: "I absolutely love Radio 2 and it’s been a privilege to host the Saturday morning show for three years.
"I will miss our amazing guests, our brilliant listeners and the one and only Sally Traffic. The truth is my children are growing up inordinately fast, so I have decided to follow them around at home before they leave for good.
"I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who works on the show, I will continue to visit with badly made biscuits and will pester the bosses to present the odd special.
"I couldn’t be happier that Romesh is taking over Saturday mornings on Radio 2. He is brilliantly laugh out loud funny, and I’ll listen every single week as my kids beg me to leave them alone."
Speaking about his new show, Romesh gushed: “In my many years working as a maths teacher thinking ‘what would happen if I gave this up’, I never imagined I’d be sandwiched between Dermot O’Leary and Steve Wright on the UK’s most popular radio station every Saturday morning.
“I’m grateful to Claud for wanting to spend more time with her kids, and enabling me to spend less time with mine, and I look forward to finding out what the nation is up to at that time, as well as speaking to some familiar faces. It’s going to be fun. Probably.”
Head of Radio 2, Helen Thomas added: “I’d like to thank Claudia for entertaining her millions of listeners each Saturday morning with such sparkling wit and great warmth. Radio 2 listeners can rest easy as we’re working on a plan for some specials in the future, so watch this space!
“I’m delighted to welcome Romesh to his new Saturday morning show on Radio 2. Judging by the audience’s reaction to him at Radio 2 in the Park in Leicester this year, he’s already a firm favourite with our listeners.
“Like Claud before him, he’ll guarantee your Saturday mornings continue to be an appointment to listen.” Chief Content Officer for the BBC, Charlotte Morre, showered the strictly -come-dancing>Strictly Come Dancing host with praise.
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She said: ““Claudia is one of the BBC’s most loved presenters and I’d like to thank her for all the laughs she’s given us as we’ve started our weekends on Radio 2 over the past three years.
"I really look forward to joining her for series two of The Traitors in the new year as well as Strictly Come Dancing next Autumn. Romesh is hugely popular with BBC audiences so I’m thrilled that he will be bringing his own unique sense of humour to Saturday mornings on Radio 2. I can’t wait to hear his new show.”
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