Claudia Winkleman has announced she is stepping down from her Saturday show on BBC Radio 2 in order to spend more time with her family.
The BBC star is set to present her last weekly programme on the station in March 2024, before a brand new show fronted by another high-profile star launches in April.
Comedian Romesh Ranganathan, who currently presents For The Love Of Hip Hop for Radio 2, will head up the new Saturday morning show.
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,” she added.
“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.”
While Romesh said: “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.”
Helen Thomas, Head of Radio 2 stated: “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.”
Charlotte Moore, Chief Content Officer, BBC, added: “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.”
Claudia first joined BBC Radio 2 to present comedy quiz show Hot Gossip in 2008, before moving on to the Friday night slot to host the Claudia Winkleman Arts Show. In 2016, she presented self-titled programme Claudia on Sunday evenings, before finally joining the Saturday morning team in February 2021.
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