Updated

Updated · BBC.com · Jun 16

Tina Daheley Leaves Radio 2 Breakfast After 7 Years as Sara Cox Prepares 6 July Debut

Updated

Updated · BBC.com · Jun 16

Tina Daheley Leaves Radio 2 Breakfast After 7 Years as Sara Cox Prepares 6 July Debut

Q: Did the Scott Mills scandal push Tina Daheley out of her 'dream job' at BBC Radio 2?

No. There is no evidence that the Scott Mills scandal pushed Tina Daheley out of BBC Radio 2’s breakfast show. Daheley’s own explanation points elsewhere. She said she was leaving after 18 years of early-morning broadcasting because she wanted a “lie-in” and more normal hours, and she has linked the move to family life as well as the strain of long-term breakfast shifts. She also is not leaving Radio 2 or the BBC altogether: she will continue to cover Jeremy Vine’s lunchtime programme and remain on BBC television. The timing inevitably raises questions because her announcement came after Mills was sacked and she acknowledged it had been an “incredibly difficult” period. That suggests the episode affected her, especially as they had worked closely together. But being affected by the turmoil is not the same as being forced out, and neither the BBC nor Daheley has said she was pushed. It is also worth noting that the station is already in transition. Sara Cox is about to take over the breakfast show permanently, and Radio 2 has been reshaping parts of its schedule more broadly. Daheley’s departure fits that wider change as much as it does the fallout from Mills. One other point: reports describing this as her leaving a “dream job” are imprecise. Daheley has previously referred to an earlier 1Xtra breakfast role as her dream job. In this case, the available evidence supports a personal and professional choice, not an exit driven by the Mills scandal.

3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Jun 16

Tina Daheley said live on air Tuesday that she is stepping down as newsreader on BBC Radio 2’s breakfast show, ending a seven-year run ahead of Sara Cox’s launch as permanent host.
Eighteen years of back-to-back breakfast shifts across BBC radio drove the move, with Daheley saying she wanted a lie-in after six consecutive breakfast shows dating back to 1Xtra.
Daheley is not leaving Radio 2 entirely; she will continue to cover Jeremy Vine’s lunchtime show, while the station has yet to name her breakfast-show replacement.
The exit comes during a wider breakfast reshuffle after Scott Mills was sacked in March, with Gary Davies covering the slot until Cox takes over on 6 July.