Dan Walker was reunited with Louise Minchin as he bid farewell to BBC Breakfast after six years.
The 45-year-old was visibly emotional as he clocked off from his last-ever shift on the hit morning show, following his shock announcement last month that he was leaving.
Dan was kept on his toes all morning thanks to co-host Sally Nugent, who promised a whole host of surprises in the last 30 minutes of the show.
She told viewers they were “throwing away all our scripts” as they celebrated his last day, and she introduced a sweet segment of his “best bits” while pictures of Dan surrounded them on the screens behind.
The Crawley-born presenter became visibly emotional as they looked back on his friendship with pensioner Tony Foulds, and Terrence, who he helped at Christmas in 2019 after finding out he had spent the last 20 Christmases alone.
Then it was time for a brief look back at Dan’s Strictly Come Dancing journey, as he got a sweet message from his professional dance partner Nadiya Bychkova, as well as head judge Shirley Ballas, who always spoke fondly of him during his stint on the show.
Louise Minchin, who was Dan’s longest co-host on BBC Breakfast, said it was “emotional” to be back on the show, saying goodbye to him.
She also revealed they have “never touched” while working together and “broke the rule of a lifetime” by enjoying a huge hug as Louise walked into the studio.
She then recalled interviewing Dan for the job, and said he “gave everyone confidence”.
They then flashed back to Dan’s now-iconic interview during the Rio Olympics in 2016 with a raucous hen party, and bride-to-be Maria - who is now married with a child - made a surprise appearance on the show to bid farewell to Dan.
Getting her daughter to repeat her chant of “BBC”, Dan smiled as he said it was “gorgeous” to see Maria, and sweetly revealed he’s kept in touch with her since their impromptu meeting in Rio.
Dan said he was “sad” to be leaving, and he paid tribute to his co-hosts, as Louise began to tear up as she thanked Dan for bringing joy to “millions of households”.
Another segment of tributes then flooded in, touching upon Dan’s other presenting duties on The NFL Show, Football Focus, Final Score and Match of the Day.
Football legend Alan Shearer, rugby legend Kevin Sinfield - who thanked Dan for his support in raising awareness for Rob Burrow - world’s strongest man Eddie Hall, Adam Peaty, Jessica Ennis-Hill, and Anton Du Beke.
Dan began to tear up when weather presenter Carol Kirkwood read a sweet poem paying tribute to her former co-star, ending her speech with, “Dan, don’t go!”
His final surprise was a video call with Strictly dance pro Nadia, who said he was the only person she would get out of bed that early for.
Then, a cake was presented to Dan, and the BBC Breakfast cast and crew surrounded the red sofa to celebrate the presenter’s final few minutes on the show.
Thanking the team in a heartfelt speech, he said they were the “best people I’ve ever worked with in my career”.
Calling Carol a “true friend”, he then turned his attention to Louise, who he said he would be pals with for years to come.
“Keep watching, thank you for having me,” he signed off.
