Less than a year after she quit the show, Louise Minchin was back on BBC Breakfast on Tuesday as former co-host Dan Walker said his goodbyes before a move to Channel 5.
It was back in the autumn that Louise, who had hosted the morning show for close to two decades, presented her final broadcast, with Dan telling her at the time that the programme 'wouldn't be the same,' without out her and he wasn't sure how he was going to cope without her by his side. And now Dan is following her off the red sofa as he makes the switch to Channel 5.
Dan is swapping channels to become the broadcaster's flag ship news presenter, following the footsteps of another ex BBC star, Sian Williams. Dan announced earlier this month that his final day would be Tuesday, May 17 and the Breakfast team made sure he had an exit to remember.
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As he presented alongside most recent co-host Sally Nugent, there were a few surprise sprung on his behalf, including some old photos of him as a child, messages from Strictly stars and a montage of some of his most memorable moments on the BBC, where he has also hosted Football Focus..
One of the big surprises was a return to the BBC Breakfast studio for Louise, who walked on camera from the back of the studio to join Dan and Sally on the sofa. And the former host, who went onto compete on I'm A Celebrity, dropped a strong hint she'd be back hours earlier when she uploaded a photo of her sitting in a makeup chair with stacks of brushes in front of her. She captioned it: "Good morning, I am up early any guesses where I am what I am up to?"
While she tried to maintain a bit of mystery about her reason for an early start, BBC viewers knew straight away, with one of Louise's followers commenting: "Saying a fond farewell to a big tall fella off the telly!" Another replied: "With an old friend maybe on the telly box," with a third joking: "Interview for the vacant job on BBC breakfast?"
As cameras rolled, Louise told Dan there'd be many people "very sad," that he was leaving, adding he had "touched the hearts of the nation," during his time on BBC Breakfast, as he managed to hold things together on air.
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