Zoe Ball quits BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show as replacement revealed: "It's time to step away"

She said that it had been a "privilege" to host the show and added: "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."

Ball will remain as the presenter until just before Christmas, with her final show being on Friday 20th December, and has revealed that she's "not disappearing entirely" – with further details on her new role as part of the Radio 2 family to follow in the New Year.

She concluded: "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!"

Soon after Ball's on-air announcement it was revealed that long-time BBC radio presenter Scott Mills would be taking on the job, moving from his current weekday afternoon programme (2-4pm).

In a statement, he 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.”

Meanwhile, Ball said of Mills that he's "not only a blooming brilliant producer but one of the best in radio".

Helen Thomas, the head of Radio 2, praised the "incredible warmth, wit and so much joy" that Ball has brought to the show since she started presenting it in January 2019, and thanked her for "approaching each show with as much vim and vigour as if it were her first".

And speaking of Mills, she said: "It's a privilege to welcome Scott to the Radio 2 Breakfast Show. He’s a multi-award winning broadcaster who has been working in radio since the age of 16 and I know he can’t wait to get started on the biggest breakfast show in the land!"

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