BBC Radio 5 Live fans have been left conflicted after host Nihal Arthanayake announced he is quitting his daytime show.
The 52-year-old radio host has worked for the BBC since 2002 when he first joined as a BBC Radio 1 host where he co-hosted the Asian Beats show. He then became a weekend breakfast show host on the radio channel in 2007 before being moved to a weekend afternoon slot the following year.
He began hosting BBC Radio 1's Review With Nihal in 2009 - while also hosting shows on the Asian Network from 2007. He left BBC Radio 1 in 2014 and began carving out a successful career on the airwaves from 2016 by helming discussion shows and panels.
He joined 5 Live in 2016 and has been helming the afternoon slot on the show that hits the air from 1pm until 4pm from Monday to Thursday. But now he is hanging up his afternoon microphone to seek out a new line of work.
The host has been presenting shows for BBC Radio since 2002 (Can Nguyen/REX/Shutterstock)
Nihal has carved an impressive career hosting in-depth interviews (X/ @TherealNihal)Taking to X on Monday, Nihal dropped his bombshell on fans, with a post explaining: “Hello everyone, some professional news from me. I am leaving daytimes on @bbc5live to concentrate on the aspect of broadcasting I love most, which is in depth long form interviews, which I will continue to do on @bbc5live on Sunday evenings and the Headliners Podcast.
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“I also need more time to finish my second book! And have more time to do the things that I never seem to have time to. Thank you for being such an incredible audience for the last 8 years! My last daytime show will be 27th June. let's have a party. Unless there is grim breaking news which I will have to cover. Keep listening!”
The announcement has provoked a mixed reaction from fans - with many saying they are devastated to hear Nihal will be stopping his daytime work, but they are excited to learn he will front in depth interviews.
One fan responded to his posts by commenting: "I’m both gutted and excited to hear this - I absolutely love your show in the afternoon, but I also think you’re our country’s greatest interviewer and this is only going to make that so much better. Congratulations." And anther wrote: "You will be greatly missed on daytime Nihal but looking forward to your long forms which are always brilliant!"
Another fan wrote more simply: "Only way is up mate." And another remarked: "Good luck with all that comes next Nihal. Have enjoyed your chats, sometimes with people I thought I’d have no interest in, but kept me listening to the end. The Tottenham chat. Not so much."
Heidi Dawson, Controller, BBC Radio 5 Live, has shared her excitement about Nihal's new line of work. She declared in a statement: “Nihal is an outstanding broadcaster and interviewer, and this new programme gives him the opportunity for to showcase the best long form interviews that he is so good at. The brilliant Headliners podcast is also going to be supersized - packed with all the interviews from the show plus exclusive unheard extras from the guests.”
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