Sara Cox Begins Tenure as BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Host
Sara Cox has officially started her new role as the host of BBC Radio 2's Breakfast show, the UK's biggest breakfast radio programme. The Bolton-born DJ kicked off her first show on Monday morning with Lizzo's hit song 'About Damn Time', setting an upbeat tone for her tenure.
Listener Interaction and Football Excitement
During her debut, Cox read out messages from listeners and encouraged them to keep texting in. She said, 'It is a Monday. It's my first show, and your favourite DJ, me feeling little bit clingy, as per, and I want some love.' She also played 'Three Lions' by David Baddiel, Frank Skinner and The Lightning Seeds following England's 3-2 victory against Mexico at the World Cup.
Cox shared a humorous anecdote about her husband, Ben Cyzer, attempting to watch England match highlights without spoilers. She recounted, 'Spoiler alert, I might mention the football just for six seconds, and then come back to me, but my husband last night slept downstairs so I could get a good night's sleep, and he was like, 'I'm gonna wake up in the morning, I'm gonna watch the footy highlights, so don't tell me who won, don't tell me the score or anything'. So he's laying in the front room and he just wakes up, and he hears a football fan coming down the street, 'Where were you when we won 3-2?' And he's like, 'no!''
Thanking Gary Davies and First Guest
Cox expressed gratitude to Gary Davies, who filled in temporarily after Scott Mills was taken off air in March. She said, 'For the past few months, a legend has been doing breakfast, and we can't not say thank you to him this morning. He was parachuted in. He did a proper shift. The one, the only, you love him, Mr Gary Davies.'
Her playlist included 'Stupid Song' by Olivia Rodrigo, 'Don't Stop Me Now' by Queen, and 'Finally' by CeCe Peniston. The first guest on her show was Hollywood actor Tom Hanks.
Background and Previous Role
Cox was announced as the permanent replacement for Scott Mills in April, taking over the weekday breakfast slot from 6:30am to 9:30am. Mills was sacked by the BBC shortly before it emerged that the Metropolitan Police had launched an investigation into him in 2016 over allegations of serious sexual offences involving a boy under 16 between 1997 and 2000. Cox previously hosted the station's teatime weekday slot from 4pm to 7pm. Listeners can tune in to Sara Cox's breakfast show on BBC Radio 2 and BBC Sounds.
