Weekly audience figures for BBC Radio 2 between January and March were down by 1.23 million from 14.46 million to 13.23 million – nearly 9 per cent on the same period last year.

The 39-year-old broadcaster hosted Woman’s Hour on the same channel from 2021 until she bid farewell to the female focused show last month.

Regular listeners of the Radio 4 programme joked that they needed to be put under ‘general anesthetic until tomorrow’ while others said they were left ‘wide awake’ after the unnerving episode.

BBC weatherman Simon King appeared to struggle for air during Sunday morning’s forecast, leading to speculation online that he was having ‘some sort of attack’.

BBC Radio 4’s appointment of Emma Barnett to the Today programme could bring a surge of news headlines after the presenter’s previous showdowns.

The channel was inundated with calls on Wednesday morning from listeners who shared how the radio giant put a smile on their faces in the morning, as they paid tribute to the star.

Ken Bruce’s fans left Radio 2 in the wake of his departure from the BBC, and he now has three million listeners for his new show on Bauer’s Greatest Hits station.

Radio 2 has been accused of launching a replica of Ken Bruce’s Popmaster quiz in the morning slot he formerly hosted.

Archers fans were puzzled this week when Birmingham TV star Jasper Carrott (pictured), 77, appeared on the soap as pensioner ‘Sykesey’ – as they thought he sounded like Vince Casey.

Listeners expressed their upset at the departure of ‘legendary’ BBC Radio 2 DJ Steve Wright from his weekday afternoon show after 23 years at the helm, with many saying they are switching off.