Claudia Winkleman has announced that she has quit her BBC Radio 2 show after 15 years on air.
The 51-year-old presenter, who also hosts BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, shared the news with her listeners during Saturday morning’s broadcast.
The radio host revealed that she made the decision after admitting she wishes to spend more time with her children – Jake, 19, Matilda, 15, and Arthur, 10.
Claudia announced that her final show will take place in March and that she will be replaced by Romesh Ranganathan.
Live on air, Claudia told her listeners: “I would love to share mind, firstly, I’m going to say it out loud and with vim, I love Radio 2.”
“It is an absolute privilege to be here every Saturday, chatting to amazing guests, being with Sally and mainly read your fantastic messages.”
“But here’s the thing and it is such a boring cliché so I apologise. Time is going too fast. My daughter is getting ready to leave home and she was 3 about 5 minutes ago.”
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She continued: “I still have a little one who wants to be with me. I don’t know how long that will last and I just need to be at home more.”
“So my news at 10 is that I am leaving – but I have two pieces of exceptional news. One – the person taking over is one of the funniest and smartest people on earth.”
‘We are going to love listening to him every Saturday at 10. Think of this if you will as an early Christmas present.”
“The one and only Romesh Ranganathan is going to be here from April and he is majestic.”
“Number two, the second piece of good news, is before I leave in March the bosses have said I can play, and I’m unapologetic about this, an obscene amount of this.”
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In a press release, Claudia said: “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,” she concluded.
