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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Daniel Bird

Paul O'Grady joins rival BBC station less than a year after Radio 2 exit

Paul O'Grady is set to front a weekend show on Boom Radio, just months after his departure from BBC Radio 2.

He had been on the airwaves at Radio 2 for 14 years before he made the decision to walk away after a string of presenters were axed by the network.

But he has now confirmed that he has a new gig lined up and will be broadcasting in just a matter of weeks and revealed that a key part of his previous show will be joining him.

The Birkenhead-born presenter said: "It's great to be working with the team at Boom again. It already feels like my new radio home."

Paul O'Grady has announced a new show on a rival station to BBC Radio 2 (paulogrady/Instagram)
Paul left BBC Radio 2 in August 2022 (mirror.co.uk)

He added to MailOnline "My producer Malcolm and I are looking forward to our special TeamPOG show on Easter Sunday - who knows, this could be the start of a regular gig."

Paul's exciting news comes just two weeks after Ken Bruce also announced he would be departing his role on the station and moving over to Greatest Hits Radio.

In August, Paul said he "wasn't really happy" at Radio 2 due to the fact presenters had 13 weeks on and then 13 weeks off.

Paul was a regular on BBC Radio 2 for 14 years (paulogrady/Instagram)

He said: "I've loved doing my Sunday afternoon show for the last 14 years and I'm going to miss my listeners as well as the fun I've had with my producer Malcolm Prince, but I feel that now is the right time to go."

Paul added that he "wasn't really happy" with controversial changes at the BBC station - including sharing his show on a '13 weeks on, 13 weeks off' basis with comedian Rob Beckett.

Reflecting on Instagram, he went on to say: "Can you hear those dogs barking, honestly, I can't do anything.

"I just want to say that tonight is my very last show on Radio 2 after 14 years! I have never had a job for that long.

"So I want to say thank you very much for listening and for all your emails and all your messages and all the fun I've had over the years.

"And also a huge special mention to Malcolm Prince, my producer. And I've been really lucky in my time to have worked with some smashing producers, and Malcolm is way up there, believe you and me."

Last month, Paul slammed Radio 2 for appearing to "aim for a much younger audience," adding the station is "not what it was".

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