Romesh Ranganathan to replace Claudia Winkleman on Radio 2
Claudia Winkleman told her BBC Radio 2 listeners this morning that she will be stepping down from her Saturday morning show in March.
Comedian, author and actor Romesh Ranganathan will take over the 10am-1pm show from April. He will continue to host For The Love of Hip Hop on the station, which he launched in 2021.
Claudia says: “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.”
Romesh adds: “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.”
Helen Thomas, Head of Radio 2 says: “I’d like to thank Claudia for entertaining her millions of listeners each Saturday morning with such sparkling wit and great warmth. Radio 2 listeners can rest easy as we’re working on a plan for some specials in the future, so watch this space!
“I’m delighted to welcome Romesh to his new Saturday morning show on Radio 2. Judging by the audience’s reaction to him at Radio 2 in the Park in Leicester this year, he’s already a firm favourite with our listeners. Like Claud before him, he’ll guarantee your Saturday mornings continue to be an appointment to listen.”