Victoria Derbyshire has spoken out for the first time since it was confirmed that her BBC current affairs show was being axed.
On Wednesday, reports claimed that Victoria’s show was being taken off the air, as part of a round of cuts to save money at the BBC.
The presenter has now addressed the matter on Twitter, revealing she found out about the fate of her show after reading about it in The Times.
She wrote: “Absolutely devastated at the plan to end our programme (which I first learned about in yesterday’s Times).
“I’m unbelievably proud of what our team and our show have achieved in under 5 years, breaking tonnes of original stories (which we were asked to do); attracting a working class, young, diverse audience that BBC radio & TV news [programmes] just don’t reach (which we were asked to do) [and] smashing the digital figures (which we were asked to do).”
Victoria added: “I’m gutted particularly for our brilliant, young, ambitious, talented team - love ’em. And for all those people we gave a voice to. Love them too.”
At the beginning of Thursday’s show, she also gave a defiant statement, saying: “Good morning and welcome to the programme. We are still here, telling your stories and covering the issues that are important to you in your life.
“And do you know what? We don’t give up.”
The news was confirmed to BBC employees in an internal email, which praised the show’s “award-winning, distinctive journalism”.
“The programme has championed important stories and fresh reporting talent,” the email read.
“This is exactly the type of journalism we need to continue, reaching audiences who are often under-served by the BBC, and we will be retaining some of the programme’s journalism roles to enable us to continue this work. We will outline further details of this next week.”
The BBC also praised the show’s “hugely talented and engaging” host in the email, insisting she will “continue to be a central part of the BBC News team”.
“She will be taking a wider role across our broadcast and digital output and will continue to lead on some of the high-profile audience events and original stories she has championed so effectively in recent years,” the email continued.