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 send off from rocker Liam Gallagher . An emotional Claudia admitted she'd been crying in between songs as she and her producer Sally shared memories of their time on the show together. Claudia has been with the station for 15 years and took over from the Saturday mid morning slot after Graham Norton moved to Virgin Radio. In her final address Claudia said: "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 Two, 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. "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. Earlier in the show, Claudia was surprised with messages from her co-stars from Zoe Ball to Tony Blackburn. The host said she had asked them not to play the farewells but she was treated nonetheless. Claudia Winkleman presented on BBC Radio 2 for the final time today "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.' Claudia announced her departure after 15 years at the station in December, saying she wanted to spend more time with her family. Comedian Romesh Ranganathan taking her the Saturday afternoon slot. Claudia and her husband of 23 years are parents to three children, Jake, Matilda and Arthur 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.