Vanessa Feltz has quit BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio London.
The star, 60, told Radio 2 Early Breakfast Show listeners this morning [July 28] that she has decided to turn off her alarm clock once and for all and leave the station in August.
The mum-of-two is also bidding farewell to her BBC Radio London Breakfast Show (7am-10am) after nearly 20 years.
In a statement shared this morning, Vanessa says: "I have loved every moment with my Radio 2 'Early Birds' and will miss my Lovely Listeners, Jolly Good Fellows and beloved friends and colleagues at Radio 2 with all my heart. However, after almost 12 blissful years, I now need to step down to catch up on a much needed decade’s deficit of beauty sleep!
"It’s been an honour and privilege to be the Breakfast voice of BBC Radio London for 20 years and although I’m leaving the show, I’ll continue to expect hugs from my lovely listeners when I see them on the streets of London!
"I will enjoy a dollop of energy-boosting shut-eye to swing from zip-lines with my three effervescent grandchildren and frolic with my fiancé Ben, who irritatingly remains 10 years younger than me!"
Vanessa began presenting the Radio 2 Early Breakfast Show in January 2011, from 5am-6.30am, which was extended to 4am from January 2021.
The broadcaster will present her final Radio 2 Early Morning Breakfast Show on Friday 29 July. After a two week holiday, Vanessa will then cover Jeremy Vine's slot on the station for two weeks before bidding farewell to Radio 2 listeners forever on Friday 26 August.
Prior to taking the lead of the popular early morning breakfast show, Vanessa presented a mid-morning phone-in show on the station, and established herself as one of the most popular voices on radio.
Discussing Vanessa's pending exit, Helen Thomas, Head of Radio 2, says: "For almost 12 years, Vanessa has made her live weekday Early Breakfast Show her very own kingdom, and I’d like to thank her wholeheartedly for the thousands of middle-of-the-night starts she’s made to entertain the Radio 2 listeners.
On behalf of them, as well as everyone in Wogan House, I’d like to send Lady V our very best wishes for the future."
Chris Burns, Controller Local Audio Commissioning, says: "Every weekday Vanessa has breezed straight from her Radio 2 programme into the Radio London breakfast show, barely pausing for breath. She has effortlessly entertained her 'lovely listener' and sternly held the city’s and country’s decision makers to account.
"The brightest spark you could ever meet - no matter how early it is and what’s going on in the news - to say Vanessa’s voice will be missed is an understatement. We wish her well and thank her dearly for her incredible service."
BBC Radio London and Radio 2 plan to announce their new respective morning schedules at a later date.
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