BBC Radio 2 has appointed Sara Cox as the new Breakfast Show host, replacing Scott Mills.
The change puts one of Radio 2’s most established voices into one of its biggest weekday shows, with the BBC saying the presenter for Sara’s current 4pm to 7pm slot will be announced later.
Sara said she was “ecstatic, honoured and incredibly chuffed” to be taking on the role, adding that hosting the Breakfast Show had been a long held ambition since joining the station. She also thanked her Teatime listeners and said she hoped they would follow her to mornings.
Helen Thomas, Head of Radio 2, said Sara had already shown she could connect with the Breakfast audience and would bring “warmth and humour” to the programme.
Sara joined BBC Radio 1 in 1999 and hosted its Breakfast Show until the end of 2003. She moved to Radio 2 in 2011, launched Sounds of the 80s in 2013, and has fronted the weekday Teatime slot since later in 2018, with the programme extended to three hours in 2022.
Vernon Kay, Rylan Clark and Gary Davies were all favourites to take the post before today’s announcement, which was made at 2.30pm.
Sara adds: “There are not enough adjectives to really sum up how I’m feeling about being trusted with such an iconic show but let’s start with ecstatic, honoured and incredibly chuffed. It’s been a dream to host the Breakfast Show since I joined Radio 2 and it feels like a bit of a full circle for me. I’ve had the most glorious seven years of my career on Teatime so thank you to my brilliant Teatime listeners who hopefully will join me at Breakfast for excellent music and all my usual nonsense plus some superstar guests. I honestly can’t wait to wake the nation up with the biggest most fun breakfast show ever.”
Helen Thomas, Head of Radio 2 said: “I’m delighted that Sara Cox will be the new host of the prestigious Radio 2 Breakfast Show. Sara is adored by her millions of listeners at Teatime, and having regularly deputised in the slot, I already know she’ll build a brilliant rapport with the Breakfast audience and get the nation going each morning with her trademark warmth and humour. She captured the hearts of the country last November, raising a staggering £11.5m for Children in Need on her Great Northern Marathon Challenge and thoroughly deserves this gig. I can’t wait to hear her first show.”