Naga Munchetty is swapping the sofa for the microphone. After 17 years on BBC One's Breakfast, the co-host is stepping away from the TV show to take over the presenter's chair on Radio 5 Live's breakfast programme.
Munchetty joined Breakfast as a finance reporter and has been one of its main hosts for the past 12 years. She currently presents the television show three days a week and 5 Live's mid-morning programme for another three days. From January, she will present 5 Live Breakfast five days a week.
“Naga Munchetty leaves BBC Breakfast after 17 years to host Radio 5 Live Breakfast from January.”
"It has been a privilege to be part of the BBC Breakfast TV team for the past 17 years, working alongside an incredibly talented and hard-working group of journalists who are not only outstanding colleagues but also great friends," she said. "Presenting a flagship programme on 5 Live is an opportunity that was simply too good to pass up. It will take a huge amount of work and require 100% of my focus and energy, and I'm really looking forward to throwing myself into the role."
John McAndrew, the BBC's director of live and daily news, said Munchetty would be "hugely missed by the millions of viewers who've welcomed her into their homes each week". He added: "I'm very pleased that Naga will be staying with the BBC and I wish her the best of luck at 5 Live."
Her replacement on BBC Breakfast has not yet been announced. Meanwhile, 5 Live Breakfast will get a new co-host to join Munchetty in the radio studio, after current hosts Rachel Burden and Rick Edwards announced on Tuesday's show that they are leaving.
Burden will move to Munchetty's Monday-to-Wednesday mid-morning slot on 5 Live. "After 15 years hosting 5 Live Breakfast, I've decided it's time for a change - and I'm really excited about launching my new show on the station," she said.
Edwards, who will remain host of weekend sport quiz Fighting Talk, said he would miss "our wonderful audience", the team and Burden - who he described as "a colleague who has become a friend, and also a mentor, because she's so much older than me". He added: "Two things I am of course looking forward to are not waking up at 3.45am, and vaping without fear of violent recrimination."
Munchetty is among the best-paid presenters on the BBC's star salaries list, earning about £360,000 a year.