"All I really want to say is, 'Thank you'."
It's the end of an era over at the BBC today as Chris Evans signed off from his breakfast show for the very last time. Evans announced his decision to move to Virgin Radio earlier in the year and will begin his new post in January.
The broadcaster got emotional as he addressed listeners this morning saying: "All I really want to say is, 'Thank you'. Thank you for everything, thank you to the BBC for supporting me and entrusting me with one of their precious microphones, for the last 13 years. For allowing me to grow every minute of every day I've been on the air.
"Whether it be live from Glastonbury, live on 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 with all the usual attendant nonsense that they involve; the mercurial magnificent guests, all that amazing music right here in Sir Terry [Wogan's] old studio, Studio 6C of Wogan House in London."
He went on: "Thank you to everyone who's ever produced the show, assisted in the production of the show and anything at all to do with the stellar content that I've been gifted over the last eight years."
Evans also went on to pay tribute to his assistant "the frothy coffee man", and got emotional as he thanked his daughter Jade and wife Natasha Shishmanian.
Zoe Ball will be taking over from Evans on the Breakfast Show in the new year.
“None of us look forward to saying goodbye to the things and people that we love but that's simply because we love them so much in the first place, which is precisely how it should be."
13 years at Radio 2. 9 years at Breakfast. £45 million raised for @BBCCiN.
Thank you Chris.🧡 pic.twitter.com/2cGbXxCIf9— BBC Radio 2 (@BBCRadio2) December 24, 2018