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BBC Radio 2 star Tina Daheley announces exit from breakfast show amid huge changes for station

The presenter won’t be leaving Radio 2 altogether...

Tina Daheley in front of a map.

Tristan Fewings / Getty Images

Published: Tuesday, 16 June 2026 at 12:00 pm

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BBC Radio 2 newsreader Tina Daheley has announced that she is stepping down from the breakfast show after over seven years.

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Her exit comes just weeks before Sara Cox replaces former host Scott Mills, who was fired by the BBC in March.

Daheley, who began reading news for the show in 2019 when Zoe Ball took over as host and continued working alongside subsequent presenter Mills, announced the news live on air on Tuesday (16 June).

She told listeners: "It’s been a privilege to have had a whole generation of people grow up with me."

She also wrote in an Instagram statement: "After more than 7 years of early alarm calls on Radio 2, I’m stepping away from Radio 2 Breakfast."

She added: "It’s been one of the greatest privileges of my life to wake up with you every morning, and humbling to have been trusted to deliver the news on the biggest breakfast show in Europe.

"My breakfast run ends at Radio 2, but it all started at 1Xtra, where I landed my dream job reading the news on Trevor Nelson’s Breakfast Show. From there, I spent a decade broadcasting to 1 in 4 young people in the UK on Radio 1.

"After 18 years and six back-to-back breakfast shows (probably a record in there somewhere), I’m looking forward to a lie-in."

She added that she is "wishing Sara and her team the very best of luck. I’ll be tuning in while doing the school run".

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She went on to clarify that she won’t be leaving the station altogether, explaining that she will be standing in for Jeremy Vine's lunchtime show during his absences.

"I’m not leaving Radio 2, you’ll hear me between 12-2pm when Jeremy’s away and you’ll see me on BBC One after the summer. Beyond that, watch this space," she said.

Mills's career at the BBC came to an end back in March following allegations over his personal conduct, with the Metropolitan Police later confirming that Mills was questioned in 2018 over allegations of serious sexual offences against a boy who was aged under 16.

The case was closed in 2019 due to lack of evidence.

Cox is set to take over from Mills as the new host of the programme in July, with Hollywood star Tom Hanks set to join her as her first guest to talk about his new film Toy Story 5.

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The presenter shared the launch date news on Monday (15 June) on Vernon Kay’s Radio 2 show, saying: “OK, my big news is... God, I've gone all hot and excited,” she said.

She continued: “My big news is that...there's been quite a lot of mystery about when the brand new Sara Cox Breakfast Show begins on BBC Radio 2. I've been quite mysterious and going, 'it's in the summer' and waggling my eyebrows mysteriously.

"But I can now announce, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and everyone in between, please do join me for my very first Breakfast Show on Radio 2 on 6th of July. Three weeks today! Very very excited. It is 6.30am. The date is the 6th of July."

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Authors

RadioTimes.com senior trends writer Molly Moss. She is sitting outside wearing a black top, holding a white teacup with a smily face on it to her mouth

Molly MossTrends Writer

Molly Moss is a Trends Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest trends across TV, film and more. She has an MA in Newspaper Journalism and has previously written for publications including The Guardian, The Times and The Sun Online.

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