Romesh Ranganathan paid tribute to Claudia Winkleman as he hosted his first show on BBC Radio 2.
Winkleman announced in December that she would be leaving her 10am-1pm slot on the station in order to spend more time with her family, with her final show coming on March 23.
Ranganathan took over the reins today (April 20), and paid tribute to his predecessor when he first went on air, saying: “Hello and welcome to my brand new show... I don’t know if you can tell, I’m very very nervous because I’m excited. Saturday mornings with me and you and I want to get to know you.
Related: Claudia Winkleman's The Piano confirms return date
“I’m brand new to Saturday mornings, I know you guys have been listening to the slot thinking, ‘Oh am I going to miss Claudia?’ We’re all going to miss Claudia, but I’m here to get to know you and, hopefully, you’ll get to realise, you know, he’s different, but he’s still good!”
Ranganathan’s first song was Go West’s ‘Kind of Wishful Thinking’, with the comedian explaining his choice: “That is one of my favourite tunes of all time. And the reason I love that song so much is, once I had a terrible, terrible gig and it went badly.
What to Read Next
“I basically just played that song over and over again on the whole way back from the gig just to show that gig, ‘I’ll get over you, I know I will’, I’m going to move on to new things!”
Related: Claudia Winkleman shares verdict on BBC Radio 2 replacement ahead of final show
Upon her final show in March, Winkleman said: “We have come to the end and I am allergic, I don’t know whether you know this [but I’m allergic] to goodbyes. My biggest thanks are to you, the listeners.
“I have worked in telly for I think 24 years and I’m just being completely honest, I have never been more nervous than I was when taking over for Graham [Norton]. You were warm, you were so welcoming, you were so lovely to me. I love your excellent weekly messages, all the updates.”
Reporter, Digital Spy George is a freelance writer who specialises in Movies and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media. His film tastes vary from blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and John Wick to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.
