Vanessa Feltz hosted her final BBC shows in August after tearfully announcing her departure (Pictue: Rex Features)
Vanessa Feltz has opened up about her bold decision to quit BBC Radio after nearly 20 years, explaining that she was simply exhausted but also feared her age would become an issue.
The former Big Breakfast host announced she was leaving her shows at Radio 2 after 12 years and BBC London after close to two decades in July.
She broke down in tears when delivering the news to her Radio 2 listeners that summer morning but she has exactly retired, finding a new home at TalkTV after taking over Jeremy Kyle’s drivetime show.
Still, it was the right time for Vanessa, 60, to move on from the Beeb after growing tired of the early morning starts – so much so that she began turning up at 4am on the wrong days.
The TV star admitted that making the decision to quit was ‘hellish, absolutely terrible’, but for the best.
‘All the time my grandchildren have been alive – they’re eight, seven, three and brand new – I’ve been jetlagged the whole time,’ she explained of the exhaustion to The Guardian.
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Her age was also a factor in her decision-making, with Vanessa stating: ‘I was aware of women over the age of 60 suddenly biting the dust. I don’t think that I would have been exempt from that at all.’
Vanessa also felt that local radio was in trouble due to the cuts to broadcasting, and so ‘had to leave, didn’t I?’
‘I could feel it coming. It’s a terrible, terrible mistake,’ she said of the financial situation.
The presenter has now joined the TalkTV family (Picture: REX/TalkTV)
Vanessa bid farewell to the BBC after nearly 20 years (Picture: PA)
‘I think it’s absolutely heartbreaking … I just thought: “I do not want to preside over the demise of this”. You might think I’m being overdramatic, but I honestly, genuinely, really cared about it.’
Vanessa, who hosted her final BBC radio show in August, began presenting the Radio 2 Early Breakfast Show in January 2011. The programme originally aired from 5am-6.30am but was extended to 4am from January this year.
Proving to be popular with listeners, the TV personlity then took over on Radio London in 2016.
Her morning programme has earned Vanessa several awards, including a Sony Gold in 2009, two gold Gillard awards and silver in the best speech Breakfast Show category at the Arias (The Radio Academy’s Audio and Radio Industry Awards) in 2017 and 2022.
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The presenter left the BBC this year after nearly 20 years.
