Claudia Winkleman walked away from her BBC Radio 2 show today after 15 years at the station, after revealing she wanted to spend more time with her children
Claudia Winkleman broke down in tears as she hosted her final BBC Radio 2 show this weekend.
In her last ever broadcast at the station, Claudia was surprised with messages from her colleagues and some of her favourite celebrities - including a sweet Traitors-themed send off from rocker Liam Gallagher. An emotional Claudia admitted she'd been crying in between songs as she and Sally Boazman or ‘Sally Traffic' shared fond memories of their time on the show together.
Claudia, 52, has been with Radio 2 for the last 15 years after taking over the Saturday mid morning slot when Graham Norton moved to Virgin Radio in 2021.
In her final address, Claudia told her listeners: "We have come to the end and I'm allergic to goodbyes. But I do want to say thank you, many thank yous. I want to thank everyone at Radio 2. I'd like to thank the brilliant people who have worked on this show... my biggest thanks are to you the listeners. I've worked in telly for at least 24 years and I'm being completely honest, I have never been more nervous than I was taking over for Graham Norton."
Claudia revealed she would get to the station five hours early when she first joined to prepare for her Saturday show as she was so riddled with anxiety. She thanked fans of the show for making her feel welcome, "You were warm and so welcoming and so lovely to me. I love your weekly messages and updates. So I just wanted to say thank you so much. Do me one last favour... be lovely to Romesh [Ranganathan] and look after my Sally."
Before hitting play on her final song, Claudia said: "This is from me to you and it could only be this" before Oasis' Wonderwall played her out.
Earlier in the show, Claudia was surprised with tear-jerking messages from Radio 2 legends from Zoe Ball to Tony Blackburn. Claudia admitted she had asked them not to play the farewells but she was treated nonetheless.
"Hello Queen of knitwear and fingerless leather gloves, I'm going to miss you in my ears lady love," said Breakfast host Zoe Ball. Sara Cox added: "I can't begin to tell you how much I'm going to miss the sound of your voice. When you create magic moments that stay with people for ever that's pretty special - and that's what you do."
Tony Blackburn said he was 'so sorry' to hear she was leaving while Trevor Nelson said he was going to miss Claudia's 'infectious' personality. Jo Whiley said she was cross to hear Claudia was quitting her role as she had 'one of the best voices in radio' and always gave her wardrobe envy. While Fearne Cotton joked she was going to have to cut in a fringe as Claudia's exit would leave a huge 'deficit.'
"Oh that's amazing," said Claudia as her voice began to crack. The star then joked she was off to the toilet to have a cry after being overwhelmed by the well wishes.
The final surprise was a message from Liam Gallagher, who made a joke about Claudia's hit show The Traitors. "I've heard it's your last Radio 2 show today so congratulations. Thanks for all your support over the years you've been a true Faithful," said the former Oasis singer.
Claudia announced her departure after 15 years at the station in December, saying she wanted to spend more time with her family. The presenter and her husband of 23 years are parents to three children, Jake, Matilda and Arthur.
Comedian Romesh Ranganathan will be taking the Saturday afternoon slot from next week and said he was 'excited but very nervous' to step into her shoes.'
Claudia first hosted the comedy quiz series Hot Gossip on the station before moving to Friday nights to host the Claudia Winkleman Arts Show. In 2016, she began presenting Claudia On Sunday and moved to her Saturday morning slot in February 2021, replacing Irish actor and comedian Graham Norton who moved to present a show on Virgin Radio.
Other recent high-profile departures from BBC radio include Ken Bruce, who left after more than three decades to join Greatest Hits Radio.
Comedian Romesh Ranganathan has said he is “scared” ahead of taking over Claudia's show. After being announced as her replacement, he said: “I’m very nervous, Claudia because I want to tell you, now, to your face, you’re unbelievable.”
She replied saying: “Please don’t say that again, I’ll have to eject you.” Romesh then clarified his comments saying she was “believable but in a really great way”.
He added: “So there’s obviously a little bit of nerves taking over from you, but I’m very excited, we’ve started planning and talking about bits and pieces. And I’m just, I’m really excited about it but also scared.”
His friend and fellow comedian Rob Beckett gave some encouragement to Ranganathan saying “however big I think it is to do a show on Radio 2, it is bigger. He (Rob) also laughed and said ‘good luck’,” Ranganathan added. “I don’t know what he means. I don’t know whether that’s encouraging or not.”
He hosted the Bafta TV awards ceremony last year, with Beckett, and they also have a Sky comedy series called Rob & Romesh Vs.
Ranganathan is also known for presenting BBC One’s The Weakest Link and starring in the channel’s comedy series Avoidance.