BBC Breakfast host Louise Minchin, 52, stunned fans earlier this year when she announced she would be leaving her role. On Wednesday’s show, which Louise presented alongside Dan Walker, 44, the journalist updated viewers on her final shows and shared her nerves over the “big change”. Louise has worked on the morning news programme since 2006, but in June announced she would be moving on “after the summer”. She told BBC viewers on Wednesday she’d be leaving in two weeks, and unveiled how she plans to spend her upcoming free time.
“I’ve got an early warning,” Louise told viewers towards the latter part of the show.
She explained: “You know what Carol [Kirkwood] was saying earlier about how it’s the end of the summer officially?”
“Yes,” Dan replied as Louise went on: “I said I was going to leave didn’t I? After the summer.
“So – it’s not today,” she clarified. Dan joked: “I was going to say – are you off?”
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“No, I’m not going today,” she confirmed. “I am going to be leaving this programme on the 15th September, it’s two weeks from today.”
“So that’s only six programmes left,” Dan worked out. Louise commented: “Yeah, very good maths!”
She continued: “Not that you and I have both been counting or anything. But yeah, so that’s it.”
Looking serious, Dan replied: “But this is quite big though, Louise. Because how long have you done Breakfast for again?”
“Well, it would have been 20 years in December this year,” she replied.
“Of course it’s a huge amount of nerves and I’m having the most extraordinarily vivid anxiety dreams, which are keeping me awake.”
When Dan asked for more details, she responded: “No, I can’t tell you more – they’re unpublishable!”
She added: “But you’ve still got lots of things to look forward to – I can watch you on BBC Breakfast.”
“What are you planning?” Asked her co-host, to which she explained she hoped to take long swims and get back into running.
As she was speaking, she received a message on her laptop from her boss. “I’ve just had a message from the boss, which says ‘she can stay’, thank you, but no.”
Dan seemed uneasy as he commented: “Oh, okay. Slightly awkward.”
It comes as Dan congratulated new colleague Katie Saoirse Bryson, who revealed she’s starting as a Technical Operator for the programme.
Taking to Twitter recently, she penned: “Now my two year apprenticeship is over I’ve joined the @BBCBreakfast and @BBCNWT teams permanently as a Technical Operator.”
Dan was quick to congratulate the BBC newcomer ahead of Louise’s departure.
BBC Breakfast airs daily at 6am on BBC.