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19th November 2024
08:35am GMT
Zoe Ball has announced she is stepping down as host of the Radio 2's Breakfast Show next month.
The presenter said she would be stepping away from the programme to "focus on family."
However, Ball said she would remain with the station, with news on what that would involve coming in the new year.
Shortly after the news of her departure was announced, Ball revealed Scott Mills would be taking over as host of the station's flagship show.
Ball said: “After six incredible years on the Radio 2 Breakfast Show, it’s time for me to step away from the very early mornings and focus on family."
"It’s been a privilege. I think the world of you listeners and I’m grateful to my bosses here for their support, especially this year. Huge thanks go to my awesome team on the show, Tina, Mike and Richie, and of course our listeners, with whom I’ve shared some of life’s highs and lows, the good, the bad and the daft times."
She said in a statement on Tuesday morning that her last show would be on Friday, December 20 "just in time for Christmas with plenty of fun and shenanigans."
The 53-year-old continued: "While I’m stepping away from the Breakfast Show, I’m not disappearing entirely – I’ll still be a part of the Radio 2 family, with more news in the New Year. I’m excited to embrace my next chapter, including being a mum in the mornings, and I can’t wait to tune in on the school run!”
Speaking about his new role as host of the breakfast show, Mills said: “Zoe and I have been such good friends now for over 25 years and have spent much of that time as part of the same radio family here at Radio 2 and also on Radio 1.
"She's done an incredible job on this show over the past six years, and I am beyond excited to be handed the baton.”
Ball has hosted the Radio 2 Breakfast Show since 2019, when she took over from Chris Evans.
Helen Thomas, Head of Radio 2, said: "Zoe has woken up the nation on Radio 2 with incredible warmth, wit and so much joy since January 2019, and I’d like to thank her for approaching each show with as much vim and vigour as if it were her first. I’m thrilled that that she'll remain an important part of the Radio 2 family."
Having joined BBC Radio in October 1997 as the co-host of the Radio 1 Breakfast Show, she went on to become the first woman to host the programme solo a year later.
She then became the first woman to host the Radio 2 Breakfast Show when she took over from Evans. Ball has also previously hosted the Saturday afternoon show and Saturday early morning breakfast show for the station.
