BBC Breakfast star Rachel Burden has announced her exit from the show after 11 years, with the the programme no longer being broadcast on Sunday mornings due to schedule changes.
The 51-year-old presenter announced her exit on Instagram, sharing “massive thanks” to her early morning colleagues.
Alongside a carousel of behind-the-scenes snaps, Burden wrote on Instagram: “This is my last Sunday on the @bbcbreakfast sofa before the schedule changes in September – no complaints there, we have to cut our cloth.
“But having done this for 10+ years, just wanted to say a massive thanks to the team who’ve worked through their Saturday nights to put the programme together, my Breakfast buddies Roger [Johnson, presenter] and @benthompsontv (among other lovely fellas who I’ve shared the sofa with).”
Burden, who began presenting on BBC Breakfast in 2015, also thanked the show’s “divine” make-up artist “who puts me together most weeks”, signing off with: “Thanks for watching. Here’s to a guaranteed Sunday lie-in.”
Fans and colleagues have shared their best wishes with the star in the comments, with weather presenter Matt Taylor writing: “Noooooo!! I didn’t realise it was your last one Rachel. Glad I got to share it with you though – whether it’s ont’telebox or over the airwaves you’re a joy to work with x.”
“On to new things I’m sure. As one door closes another always opens! You’ve been fabulous,” one viewer wrote.
“Well done Rach! What a shift! You have been exemplary!” said another.
The schedule change comes after the BBC last month announced £80 million in budget cuts, which will also see multiple other TV and radio shows axed.
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Radio 4’s The World Tonight will be going off-air after 56 years, along with topical debate show AntiSocial and the consumer-focussed Money Box Live.
The team working on the station’s hugely popular Today show will also be slimmed down, with four regular presenters on rotation instead of five after Amol Rajan’s exit later this year.
The production teams on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg and Newsnight will also be merged.
The BBC’s new director-general Matt Brittin announced the 550 job cuts earlier this month, telling staff at the corporation: “The scale of savings requires tough choices, careful work and won’t all be ready at once.”
The changes are part of a plan for the BBC to save £500m across the next two years.
