Tina Daheley has confirmed she is stepping away from the BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show as Sara Cox gets ready to take over from the sacked Scott Mills.
Daheley's Announcement
The news journalist was a familiar voice on the programme alongside the former presenter, but has now announced her exit, just as it was revealed that Bolton-born broadcaster Sara will be taking over as host of the revamped show.
Breaking the news on Instagram on Tuesday (June 16) morning, Tina said: "After more than 7 years of early alarm calls on Radio 2, I'm stepping away from Radio 2 Breakfast. It's been one of the greatest privileges of my life to wake up with you every morning and humbling to have been trusted to deliver the news on the biggest breakfast show in Europe.
"My breakfast run ends at Radio 2, but it started on 1Xtra, where I landed my dream job reading the news on Trevor Nelson's Breakfast Show. From there, I spent a decade broadcasting to 1 in 4 young people in the UK on Radio 1.
"After 18 years and six back-to-back breakfast shows (probably a record in there somewhere), I'm looking forward to a lie-in. Wishing Sara and her team the very best of luck. I'll be tuning in while doing the school run."
She also revealed where listeners will be able to catch her next, as she continued: "I'm not leaving Radio 2, you'll hear me between 12-2pm when Jeremy's away and you'll see me on BBC One after the summer. Beyond that, watch this space."
Reactions from Colleagues
The post was quickly flooded with comments, with This Morning star and Radio 2 colleague Dermot O'Leary saying: "Congrats Tina, great shift x."
Radio 2's former Breakfast host Zoe Ball replied: "Love you Tina. Class act darling girl. I can highly recommend the later start to your day."
Channel 5 News' Dan Walker shared: "All the best Tina."
Sara Cox's New Role
Sara was unveiled as the presenter of the station's flagship programme in April, following the departure of former host Scott Mills. This comes after several years presenting her own Teatime show, between 4pm and 7pm every weekday, on Radio 2.
She said at the time: "There are not enough adjectives to really sum up how I'm feeling about being trusted with such an iconic show but let's start with ecstatic, honoured and incredibly chuffed. It's been a dream to host the Breakfast Show since I joined Radio 2 and it feels like a bit of a full circle for me.
"I've had the most glorious seven years of my career on Teatime so thank you to my brilliant Teatime listeners who hopefully will join me at Breakfast for excellent music and all my usual nonsense plus some superstar guests. I honestly can't wait to wake the nation up with the biggest most fun breakfast show ever."
It was on Friday, June 13, that Sara was heard presenting her Teatime show for the very last time, and by Monday, June 15, the launch date for her new role had been announced. The 51-year-old has confirmed that her new programme will debut on July 6, with Hollywood legend Tom Hanks set to join her in the studio as her first guest.
