Lauren Laverne to withdraw from 6 Music Breakfast
Lauren Laverne has announced she will be stepping down from BBC 6 Music’s breakfast show after taking time out for cancer treatment.
The presenter, who also hosts Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, will hand the program over to Nick Grimshaw, who has been keeping the seat warm since August.
However, Laverne would remain at the station, handling the mid-morning slot.
“Hosting the breakfast show for six amazing years has been a huge honor (and a lot of fun), but now the time has come for me to hand over the responsibility and set my alarm a little later,” the presenter said in a statement.
“As listeners will know, 2024 was really difficult for me and there were times when I was worried I wouldn’t be able to return to the station I love so much.”
He added, “During my recovery I re-learned about the power of music, the people you surround yourself with and the emotional support and happiness that radio can provide.
“I’m so grateful to be able to get back to what I love and share those things with my talented listeners every day.”
The broadcaster said Mary Anne Hobbs, who currently presents 6 Music’s mid-morning show, will take a sabbatical from the station and will return with a new show later in the spring.
Laverne, who began hosting the breakfast show in 2019, has gradually restarted her broadcasting career following “successful” cancer treatment last year.
She returned to BBC One’s The One Show in November, as well as Desert Island Discs last November.
In a post on Instagram at the time, she thanked “the wonderful medical teams who took such good care of me” and “the thousands of people who sent me such beautiful and encouraging messages”.
“Most of all (thank you) to my family: my two amazing children and especially my husband Graeme, who was absolutely extraordinary.”
She said her cancer was discovered “unexpectedly during a screening test” in August and urged anyone who was “avoiding testing or postponing appointments” to get tested.
She has not revealed what type of cancer she has.
Laverne began filling in for Kirsty Young on Desert Island Discs in 2018, later taking over as permanent host.
For this role he has interviewed such greats as Cillian Murphy, Steven Spielberg, Rebel Wilson, Delia Smith, Kate Mose and John Legend.
She has previously presented BBC Two’s The Culture Show and Channel 4’s 10 O’Clock Live, and was a singer and guitarist with the alternative rock band Kenickie in the 1990s.
