Chris Evans gave an emotional final broadcast on the BBC on Monday morning, as he delivered his last ever breakfast show before making the jump to Virgin Radio.
During his last breakfast show, Chris was heard holding back tears as he thanked both his devoted listeners for their support, as well as his family.
“Thank you to my family for putting up with me, and for having someone in your personal orbit that does a job like this, particularly my daughter Jane,” he said.
“Thank you to you all for listening but most of all I would like to thank my wife Natasha, my gravity and my guiding light, for giving me enough certainty to feel confident enough to embark upon a bit of uncertainty again.”
He continued: “It is what I like. I crave the uncertainty but you can only do that against a backdrop of certainty and security.
“Uncertainty is where creativity lives. Comfort and creativity are not the great bedfellows, let me tell you. None of us look forward to saying goodbye to the things and people we love.”
He also gave a shout-out to the BBC, while reflecting on some of his highlights as one of their flagship presenters.
“Thank you to the BBC for supporting me, and trusting me with one of their precious microphones for the last years,” he continued. “For allowing me to grow every minute of every day that I have been on air.
“Live from Glastonbury, live from the beaches of northern France for the commemoration of the Normandy landings or having a blast in the middle of one of our regular Friday shows.
“The mayhem there of the usually attendant nonsense that they involve. And yes, all that incredible music. Right here in Terry’s old studio. Studio 6C at Wogan House in London.”
Earlier this year, Chris announced that he would be stepping down from Radio 2, 13 years after hosting his first show on the station.
Chris Evans took over the Radio 2 breakfast show from Terry Wogan in 2009 and he will be succeeded by Zoe Ball, who tweeted that she’d found his speech “very special”.
Zoe will be presenting her first Radio 2 breakfast show on 14 January 2019, while her regular Saturday afternoon Radio 2 slot will be taken over by Rylan Clark-Neal.
A week later, on 21 January, Chris will launch his new breakfast show on Virgin Radio.