Broadcaster Vanessa Feltz will take over Carol Vorderman’s Sunday slot on LBC on a permanent basis.
The 63-year-old former Countdown star said she would not continue with her radio show last month after suffering “burnout” from working seven-day weeks.
In a video posted on Instagram, Vorderman said she had a “tight feeling in my chest and I was utterly exhausted”, but after many scans and checks, her doctors found no underlying health issues.
Vorderman, who joined the station in January, explained that she was taking the health scare as a “warning sign to slow down slightly”, adding that she has “decided to cut my work back to weekdays for now”.
“I am very fed up about it, but I have made the decision that I can no longer do my Sunday show on LBC, which is a very hard decision to come to but I couldn’t see anything else I could do,” she said in the Instagram video.
It has now been announced that Feltz will be replacing her. Feltz joined LBC in May and presents a Saturday afternoon show where she offers her opinion and analysis on topics that matter to the British public.
The Loose Women star and former host of The Vanessa Show, said: “I can’t wait to be a weekend appointment to listen to. I’m looking forward to holding Britain’s biggest and most spirited conversation with my lovely LBC listeners every Saturday and Sunday afternoon.”
Tom Cheal, LBC’s senior managing editor, said: “Vanessa has quickly made her mark on the LBC schedule since she joined the station in May.
“She is a genuine, straight-talking and incisive broadcaster who has proved incredibly popular with LBC listeners and knows what really matters to them, so we are excited to announce her new Sunday show.”
Speaking to The Independent in a recent interview, Feltz credited her longevity in radio to the fact that she remains interested in what people have to say.
“I don’t see why you’d still speak to people if you weren’t curious about what their answers might be. ‘What’s happened?’ ‘What’s got to be done?’ ‘What’s going on with you?’ ‘Why are you so angry?’ Often you hear people interviewing and they couldn’t care less. But I really, really want to know!” she said.
Vorderman joined LBC in January to front her Sunday programme from 4pm to 7pm. Her appointment came two months after she left her BBC Radio Wales show, stating that she was “not prepared to lose my voice” after the corporation introduced new social media guidelines.
Vorderman was vocal in her criticism of the previous government on social media and has had several arguments on X/Twitter with Tory MPs. The TV personality said management decided that she should give up her Saturday morning show on Radio Wales over a breach of the new guidelines.
With additional reporting from PA
