Naga Munchetty to leave BBC Breakfast after 17 years

Naga Munchetty on leaving BBC Breakfast: 'It's time for a new challenge'

BBC Breakfast co-host Naga Munchetty is leaving the show after 17 years, and will swap the TV sofa for the presenter's chair on Radio 5 Live's breakfast show.

Munchetty joined BBC One's Breakfast as a finance reporter and has been one of the main hosts for the past 12 years.

She currently presents the TV show for 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.

"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.

Munchetty currently presents BBC Breakfast with Charlie Stayt from Thursdays to Saturdays

"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, while 5 Live Breakfast will get a new co-host to join Munchetty in the radio studio.

Rachel Burden and Rick Edwards have presented 5 Live Breakfast together for five years

5 Live Breakfast's current hosts Rachel Burden and Rick Edwards announced on Tuesday's show that they will be leaving the programme.

Burden, who will move to Munchetty's Monday-to-Wednesday mid-morning slot on 5 Live, said: "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."

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."

April 2022: Watch BBC Breakfast's Naga in fits of laughter at co-host Charlie Stayt's paper review

Munchetty is among the best-paid presenters on the BBC's star salaries list, earning about £360,000 a year