BBC radio star ‘struggling to hold it together’ after being replaced by Naga Munchetty

Longtime Radio 5 Live presenter Rachel Burden was nearly overcome with emotion as she announced she will be stepping down from the job after 15 years.

BBC Breakfast host Naga Munchetty is set to replace her, after announcing this week that she will be leaving the Beeb’s flagship red sofa after nearly two decades. 

Munchetty will take over the radio breakfast show in January, relieving Burden and Rick Edwards, who was also in the studio for the exit announcement.

But as Burden, 51, read a statement on the news to listeners, she admitted live on air that she was ‘struggling to hold it together’, having presented the weekday breakfast show since 2011.

Burden and Edwards will be stepping down in December, with Munchetty taking over the reins in the new year. 

Holding back tears, Burden said on Tuesday: ‘I have some news to share with you – ah, I really need to try and keep it together.

‘I said I’d keep it together! We have been working together on 5 Live Breakfast for five years now, and I have been co-presenting this show for over 15 years. And I have loved, I think, almost every single minute of it.

‘But we have both been thinking a lot in recent months about what comes next, and I guess how we meet sort of shifting priorities in our lives.’

Radio 5 Live shared the clip of the announcement to their Instagram, writing in the caption: ‘Breakfast hosts, Rachel Burden and Rick Edwards, announced this morning that they will step down in December.

‘Naga Munchetty will become the new co-presenter of 5 Live Breakfast, taking the helm of the station’s flagship morning programme five days a week from January 2027.

‘As part of the changes, Rachel Burden will move to present the weekday mid-morning programme, Monday to Wednesday 11-2pm, following 15 years on the station’s Breakfast show.’

Munchetty announced she will be bumped up from the mid-morning show on Monday, saying she was ‘thrilled’ by the news.

She added: ‘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.

‘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.

‘Over the last five years, I’ve been privileged to build a relationship with 5 Live listeners on the mid-morning programme and help shine a light on the issues that matter most to them. I’m excited to build on that in the breakfast slot and to start each day with our listeners every morning.

‘Between now and January, I’ll continue presenting the two programmes I love. I’m sure there will be plenty of news to cover, and it will very much be business as usual.’