Claudia Winkleman to step down from BBC Radio 2 next year

Claudia Winkleman has announced she is stepping down from hosting her Saturday morning BBC Radio 2 show next year.

After three years of presenting from 10am to 1pm, the broadcaster announced on the show on December 2 that she will present her last edition in March.

She first joined Radio 2 in Spring 2008 to host Hot Gossip, a comedy quiz series, before moving to Friday nights to host the Claudia Winkleman Arts Show. In 2016, she presented Claudia on Sunday (7-9pm) and then moved on to Saturday mornings in February 2021.

Comedian and actor Romesh Ranganathan, who currently hosts a show on the station from midnight to 1am on Saturdays, will take over Winkleman’s timeslot in April.

Winkleman 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.”

She added that she “couldn’t be happier” that Ranganathan who be taking over from her on Saturday mornings.

“He is brilliantly laugh out loud funny, and I’ll listen every single week as my kids beg me to leave them alone”, she added.

Ranganathan 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,” he added.

Charlotte Moore, Chief Content Officer, BBC noted: “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.”

Press Association – Naomi Clarke