Inside Vernon Kay’s move to Radio 2 as BBC chiefs battle to turn plummeting ratings around after pushing out older stars

IT has long been the jewel in the crown of the BBC’s radio output – but amid a mass exodus of stars and sliding audience figures, Radio 2’s star-studded glow has begun to fade.

Top names including Steve Wright, Simon Mayo, Paul O’Grady and most recently Ken Bruce have all headed for the exit, with thousands of listeners following them, amid a concerted effort from the top to overhaul the image which made the station such a success.

So there’s no doubt newcomer Vernon Kay, 48, who The Sun yesterday revealed will step into the mid-morning slot vacated by Ken, has his work cut out.

Especially as tonight a fresh dispute between Ken, 72, and Radio 2 chiefs emerged, as he revealed he will now step down almost immediately, following a change of heart by BBC bosses who will not allow him to see out his contract.

Despite being expected to continue for several more weeks, Ken told fans: “I will be presenting my last show on Radio 2 next Friday.

“I had intended on fulfilling my contract until the end of March, but the BBC has decided it wants me to leave earlier.

“Let’s enjoy the week ahead.”

A source added: “Things seem to be turning sour, fast.”

But many insiders believe Vernon is exactly what the network is craving, fitting the mould many listeners fear is being rapidly wiped out by woke new bosses — whisper it — a middle- aged man.

As one radio exec put it: “Clearly losing all the presenters the listeners love wasn’t all that smart in the first place . . . err, surely that should have been obvious!”

Repair the damage

Vernon, married to Strictly host Tess Daly, later confirmed news of his arrival paying tribute to his veteran predecessor as he gushed: “What an honour to follow in the footsteps of the mighty Ken Bruce.”

He added: “It’s a dream come true to join the Radio 2 family and I can’t wait to start.”

His formal announcement was accompanied by an enthusiastic statement of intent from top executive Helen Thomas, the woman many inside the Beeb believe has been responsible for the drastic overhaul of the station’s line-up, and any associated slide in audience figures.

As an insider adds: “Helen had admirable plans to add diversity, particularly in terms of gender, from the day she took over.

“She made it very clear when she arrived that she wanted to rip up the existing roster and put her own stamp on the station.

“But she got it wrong by doing it at the expense of experienced stalwarts who the public love.

“Adding some new faces is one thing but saying goodbye to the likes of Steve and Ken is another, and now we’re playing catch-up to try to repair the damage.

“Just because Ken and those like him are male, it doesn’t mean they don’t appeal to a female audience.

“It was a foolhardy move.”

Helen gave former X factor contestant Rylan the biggest job of his career as he replaced Zoe Ball, 52, on Saturday afternoons in January 2019.

The same month, Sara Cox joined Radio 2 full time, taking over from Simon Mayo.

Simon, 64, began the exodus in 2019, after being kept in the dark over plans to quietly add female co-host Jo Whiley, 57, to his successful drivetime show.

He later explained he only found out when his agent called telling him it was a done deal.

Simon said: “My agent rings up and says, ‘You’ve got to have a co-presenter’. And I said, ‘Oh, really? That’s interesting.’

“It was not how I imagined the end of my career at Radio 2 would work out. I certainly had no intention of going anywhere.

“They thought it would be an improvement and make the network more contemporary. They made a mistake.”

Simon added that Radio 2 did try to keep him on board but his mind was made up.

From then a host of names including Craig Charles and Vanessa Feltz all quit Radio 2.

Vanessa, who now has a regular slot on TalkTV, was vocal about feeling her age went against her.

The reported decision to keep Simon in the dark was echoed in comments by Paul O’Grady, 67, after he cut ties with Radio 2 in August 2022.

Paul had been at the station for 14 years and announced the decision a year after the presenter was forced to share his time-slot on Sunday afternoons with comedian Rob Beckett, 37.

Paul said at the time: “The reason I’m leaving, it’s because I wasn’t really happy with the 13 weeks on/13 weeks off business.

“So, I did the honourable thing and I honoured my contract, gave my notice and now I’m off.”

Amid accusations by listeners he was pushed out, the BBC insisted the shake-up was plans for the station to “evolve over time”.

Less than two months later Radio 2 legend Steve Wright, 68, announced he was stepping down from the afternoon slot he had held since 1999.

His show, which regularly pulled in more than eight million, had been on air for more than two decades.

Admitting the shake-up was down to Radio 2 chief Helen Thomas and came with little push back, Steve said: “At the beginning of this year, my friend and boss Helen Thomas, head of Radio 2, said she wanted to do something different in the afternoons.

“I’ve been doing this programme for 24 years at Radio 2, so how can I possibly complain?

“The support and creative freedom I’m given is fantastic at Radio 2, and really I can’t hold the slot for ever. So let’s give somebody else a go.”

He keeps his Sunday morning show.

Steve was replaced by Radio 1 legend Scott Mills, 49, in a move which left fans of the younger station gutted.

Scott had been at Radio 1 for 24 years and had previously revealed both stations were battling to get him on air.

He said: “I was offered another two-year contract [at Radio 1] but I’m 49 now and down the line, who wants a 60-year-old Scott Mills on Radio 1?

“I’ve spent half my life at the station and it has been glorious, but I would have been an absolute fool to turn down Radio 2 because this is a job that doesn’t come up very often.”

Listeners were quick to complain Scott has been playing “too much dance music” causing bigwig Helen to speak out.

She said: “We are told by listeners that just because they are a certain age, it doesn’t mean they don’t want to hear new music.”

Helen admitted she was looking to “broaden the appeal of Radio 2” but would “never do that at the expense of our existing listeners”.

Regardless of her aim, the latest Rajar figures make grim reading for Radio 2 bosses.

Rather than invigorating new life into the station, it shed 359,000 listeners in the last quarter of 2022 when compared to the same period in 2021.

The only glimmer of hope came from Zoe Ball who managed to hold on to the most-listened to breakfast show.

However, this was tainted by the fact her show still lost 359,000 listeners.

The programme, which airs weekdays from 6.30am until 9.30am, attracts 7.1million listeners, well below the figures in excess of nine million enjoyed by predecessor Chris Evans who joined rival Virgin Radio in 2019.

As a whole, Radio 2 lost just over half a million listeners, dropping 3.9 per cent.

With Ken now heading to Greatest Hits Radio in April, Radio 2 is looking to Vernon to help stem the steady tide of departing listeners.

The former I’m A Celebrity contestant and partner of Strictly Come Dancing Host Tess Daly, will have a mountain to climb – but fans yesterday appeared enthusiastic about his appointment as they praised his likeability and good humour.

He’ll need all of those assets when he hits the airwaves for the first time later this year.