Date for new Vernon Kay weekday BBC Radio 2 show confirmed - as he replaces Ken Bruce

Vernon Kay will present his first mid-morning weekday BBC Radio 2 show on Monday May 15, it has been announced.

The TV presenter, 49, was announced as the replacement for veteran broadcaster Ken Bruce, who helmed the programme for 31 years.

Kay will bring “big tunes, big names and big laughs” to listeners, as well as introducing a few new surprises, the BBC said.

The show is due to run from 9.30am to 12pm every weekday.

It will feature the daily music quiz Ten To The Top, Tracks Of My Years, the Record and Album Of The Week, and performances from the Radio 2 Piano Room.

In the first few weeks of his new tenure, Kay will welcome two new Piano Room sessions – Def Leppard on May 18 and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds on June 1.

“To be hosting the new Radio 2 mid-morning show is a total privilege. It’s going to be an unforgettable start to what promises to be an amazing journey,” Kay said.

“And to have two music legends coming up in the Radio 2 Piano Room is a dream come true.”

Kay, who is married to Strictly Come Dancing presenter Tess Daly, is known for fronting various shows on Channel 4’s T4 as well as ITV programmes including All Star Family Fortunes, Just The Two Of Us, and Beat The Star.

He presented a BBC Radio 1 show between 2004 and 2012 and another on Radio X between 2015 and 2017, and has filled in for BBC Radio 2 presenters including Zoe Ball, Steve Wright, Rylan Clark and Dermot O’Leary.

Kay previously became emotional after reflecting on the support he had received after being announced as Bruce’s replacement.

Appearing on The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show he said BBC Radio 2 was “in my DNA” and hailed Bruce as an “absolute legend of broadcasting”.

“You don’t think of any other DJ when you think of that slot,” he said.

“Whatever channel you choose to listen to, whoever is on mid-mornings, it’s the Ken Bruce slot. He has made it his own and he is an absolute legend of broadcasting.

“To be asked to step into those big shoes… it was a big deep breath, I’ll be honest with you.

“Obviously I am over the moon and so are my parents and Tess and the kids, but it’s the Ken Bruce show and the man has raised the bar so high that I’m just so excited to be able to take the reins.”

Bruce, 72, announced he was leaving the BBC in January and will be moving to Bauer’s Greatest Hits Radio in April to present a new mid-morning show from 10am to 1pm.