The presenter, 53, announced her exit on Monday morning and told listeners: “After six years of fun times alongside you all on the breakfast show, I’ve decided it’s time to step away from the early alarm call and start a new chapter.
“You know I think the world of you all listeners, and it truly has been such a privilege to share the mornings with you, to go through life’s little ups and downs, we got through the lockdown together, didn’t we?
“We’ve shared a hell of a lot, the good times, the tough times, there’s been a lot of laughter. And I am going to miss you cats.”
It’s been a tough year for the BBC star, who took time away from the breakfast show when her mother, Julie Peckham, was diagnosed with cancer in March. A month later, Ball said her mum had died aged 74.
Ball’s last show will be on December 20 — and her exit has sparked a Radio 2 reshuffle as various presenters begin new roles.
Trevor Nelson will fill this, with DJ Spoony taking over his Monday to Thursday 9pm to midnight show. Spoony’s Friday nights at 9pm slot will go to Sophie Ellis-Bextor.
Confused? We don’t blame you.
Here’s how the schedule will look from January 2025…
Weekdays Radio 2 schedule from early 2025
- Midnight to 3am – Oj Borg
- 3am-4am – Dance Sounds of the 90s with Dermot O’Leary (Mondays and Fridays), Pick of the Pops by Mark Goodier (Tuesdays and Wednesdays), Dance Sounds of the 90s with Vernon Kay (Thursdays)
- 4am-6.30am – Owain Wyn Evans
- 6.30am-9.30am – Scott Mills
- 9.30am to midday – Vernon Kay
- Midday to 2pm – Jeremy Vine
- 2pm-4pm – Trevor Nelson
- 4pm-7pm– Sara Cox
- 7pm-9pm – Jo Whiley (Mondays to Thursdays), 7pm-8.30pm Michelle Savage (Fridays)
- 8pm-9pm – Michelle Savage (Fridays)
- 9pm-10pm – The Blues Show with Cerys Matthews (Mondays), The Jazz Show with Jamie Cullum (Tuesdays), The Folk Show with Mark Radcliffe (Wednesdays), The Country Show with Bob Harris (Thursdays), Sophie Ellis-Bextor (Fridays, 9pm-11pm)
- 10pm to midnight – DJ Spoony (Monday to Thursday), The Rock Show with Shaun Keaveny (11pm to midnight, Fridays)
- Midnight to 1am – Romesh Ranganathan For the Love of Hip Hop (Saturdays), Johnny Marr’s Great British Groups (Sundays)
- 1am-2am – Sounds of the 60s with Tony Blackburn (Saturdays), Dance Sounds of the 90s with Vernon Kray (Sundays)
- 2am-3am – Sounds of the 80s with Gary Davies (Saturdays), 2.30am-3am Sounds of the 90s with Fearne Cotton (Saturdays), Top Brass (Sundays)
- 3am-4am – Pop Top 10 Shaznay Lewis (Saturdays)
- 4am-5am – Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s Kitchen Disco (Saturdays), Radio 2 in Concert (Sundays)
- 5am-6am – Radio 2 in Concert (Saturdays), Tracks Of My Years (Sundays)
- 6am – Sounds of the 60s with Tony Blackburn (Saturdays), Good Morning Sunday (6am-9am, Sundays)
- 8am – Dermot O’Leary (Saturdays)
- 9am – Love Songs with Michael Ball (Sundays)
- 10am-1pm – Romesh Ranganathan (Saturdays)
- 11am-1pm – Paddy McGuiness (Sundays)
- 1pm-3pm – Pick of the Pops Mark Goodier (Saturdays), Elaine Page on Sunday (Sundays)
- 3pm-6pm – Rylan on Saturday (Saturdays), Sounds of the 70s with Bob Harris (3pm-5pm, Sundays)
- 5pm-7pm – Rob Beckett (Sundays)
- 6pm-8pm – Liza Tarbuck (Saturdays)
- 7pm – Tony Blackburn Golden Hour (Sundays)
- 8pm-10pm– Sounds of the 80s with Gary Davies (Saturdays), The Paul Gambaccini Collection (Sundays)
- 10pm to midnight – Sounds of the 90s with Fearne Cotton (Saturdays), Radio 2 Unwinds with Angela Griffin (Sundays)
