Naga Munchetty has announced she is leaving BBC Breakfast after 17 years with the programme
Naga Munchetty is leaving BBC Breakfast(Image: BBC)
Naga Munchetty has announced she is leaving BBC Breakfast and talk has turned to who will replace her.
The star has been a fixture on the programme for 12 years – having been with the BBC programme for 17 – but is moving to 5 Live after getting an offer that was “simply too good to pass up”.
Bookmakers have already got Nina Warhurst as the frontrunner to step in and take Naga’s place on the sofa alongside Charlie Stayt. The TV star has BBC Breakfast experience, having stood in as a host on the show before, and bookies think she could return to replace Naga.
According to Betway, she is the 7/4 favourite to step into Naga’s role, reports Wales Online.
Nina began her broadcasting career on Russia Today in Moscow, then in 2010 she joined BBC East Midlands regional news.
After other roles, including being political editor at BBC North West, she joined BBC Breakfast in 2018.
In October 2020, she took over from Steph McGovern as the show’s main business presenter.
Then last year she moved to front BBC News at One.
Naga confirmed this week that she will be leaving BBC Breakfast to present 5 Live Breakfast five days a week, beginning in January.
“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 revealed in a statement.
“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.”
Betway has a list of presenters who could be drafted in.
They include BBC journalists Tina Daheley (4/1) and Emma Vardy (7/1) and current BBC Breakfast presenter Jon Kay, who regularly appears alongside Sally Nugent. He is priced at 8/1 to succeed Naga when she departs.
Rachel Burden, Ben Thompson and Luxmy Gopal, all familiar faces in the stand-in rota on the news programme, are each at 10/1 to secure the role. Today programme regular Anna Foster is listed at 25/1, while veteran broadcaster Victoria Derbyshire — well known for her work on Newsnight and Panorama — is considered an outsider at 40/1.
BBC Breakfast airs at BBC One from 6am
