Rylan Clark-Neal has announced that he’s joining the BBC Radio 2 family on a permanent basis, replacing Zoe Ball on Saturday afternoons.
Over the summer, Rylan filled in for Zoe on her regular Radio 2 slot, and went down a storm with viewers (we particularly enjoyed when he played Geri Horner’s cover of ‘It’s Raining Men’ as a response to anyone concerned he’d “camp it up on the airwaves”).
With Zoe set to make the jump to the breakfast show, her usual slot has been left vacant, with BBC bosses deciding to give the weekly job to Rylan.
He said he was “excited and honoured” about the upcoming gig, noting: “After stepping in for the amazing Zoe Ball over the summer, working with her fantastic team, I’m thrilled that I’ll be working with them again to fill listeners’ Saturday afternoons with fun, great music and a lot of laughter.
“I can’t wait to get started and look forward to being in the studio from the New Year.”
It’s been a busy week for Rylan who, ahead of revealing his new weekly radio gig, hosted his emotional last episode of ‘Big Brother’s Bit On The Side’ on Monday night, after Channel 5 made the decision to axe the show for good.
At the end of the show, Rylan vowed that he, regular host Emma Willis and ‘Big Brother’ narrator Marcus Bentley would all do whatever was in their power to get the show a new home.
Meanwhile, it really is all change at Radio 2, with Zoe set to take over from Chris Evans on the breakfast show, and Sara Cox stepping into Simon Mayo’s shoes as the new drive-time host.