ANOTHER BBC presenter has decided to step away from the corporation after 50 years on the airwaves.

The legendary broadcaster left his listeners completely stunned after he made a moving announcement mid-show.

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Johnnie Walker, 79, often took to BBC Radio 2 to present the Sounds of the 70s show and he also fronted The Rock Show.

But he just announced that he would step down from both of his two programmes on the network in a moving message to his listeners.

He initially read out a letter that was sent in by one of the fans, whose father loved the show but died in 2022.

This was due to him having pulmonary fibrosis, the same condition Johnnie has.

The legendary DJ then told his listeners: “Now, that leads me to be making a very sad announcement.

“The struggles I’ve had with doing the show and trying to sort of keep up a professional standard suitable for Radio 2 has been getting more and more difficult, hence my little jokes about Puffing Billy.

“So I’ve had to make the decision that I need to bring my career to an end after 58 years.”

Johnnie then told the audience precisely when his last show on the airwaves would be.

“I’ll be doing my last Sounds of the 70s on the 27th of October, so I’ll make the last three shows as good as I possibly can,” he admitted.

“Now this week in 1978, The Rolling Stones were special guests on America’s Saturday Night Live TV show and they appeared in a couple of sketches and performed three tracks from their latest album, Some Girls.

He added: “One of the tracks on the album seems quite suitable at the moment,” before going onto play The Rolling Stones’ hit, Miss You.

Johnnie then continued: “And by the way, I can also reveal not only my last Sounds of the 70s, but the person taking over the show will be the one and only Bob Harris.

“Bob Harris will be in charge of Sounds of the 70s from the 3rd of November.”

1966 was the year Johnnie first began his career in radio when he appeared on the offshore pirate station, Swinging Radio England.

The struggles I’ve had with doing the show and trying to sort of keep up a professional standard suitable for Radio 2 has been getting more and more difficult

Johnnie WalkerBBC Radio 2

He then became a household name by hosting the popular night-time show on Radio Caroline.

The star then joined BBC Radio 1 in 1969 and continued until 1976, becoming known for his music-centric approach.

He regularly impressed listeners when he prioritised the tracks over conversation over the airwaves.

His edition of lunchtime show was launched in 1971 where huge names such as Fleetwood Mac and The Eagles were first promoted on air.

BBC departures and returns

In 1976 he chose to leave the BBC in order to go to California and work in San Francisco.

He returned to blighty in the early 80’s, before making a comeback on Radio 1 in 1987 with The Stereo Sequence.

This was alongside his work on BBC Radio 5 Live and various shows on the new local station, BBC GLR in London.

1997 saw Johnnie join Radio 2 to present documentaries and fill in for other shows across the schedule.

I’ve had to make the decision that I need to bring my career to an end after 58 years.”

Johnnie WalkerBBC Radio 2

A year later he was given the afternoon show on Saturday, before stepping up to present the drivetime slot from 5-7pm in 1999.

He became synonymous for his extensive music knowledge that he gained with his 30 years of experience.

One famous moment included the heartbreaking moment that he broke the news of his cancer diagnosis to his audience in June 2003.

After taking a break from the programme, he returned in March 2004, to Eric Clapton’s hit, ‘Hello Old Friend’.

He decided to step away from the Drivetime show in 2006 to front a new Sunday show on the network, while filling in for Terry Wogan on the breakfast show.

The star was also the voice for various specials, and he was later awarded an MBE for Services to Broadcasting.

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Clive Myrie has apologised to the BBC after the presenter failed to declare extra earnings as required.

The 60-year-old earns a reported £310,000 from his role as a broadcaster at the corporation, as well as an undisclosed amount from his work presenting quiz show Mastermind. Myrie is best known for his role as news anchor on BBC’s News at One, News at Six, and News at Ten.

He is said to have earned an extra £65,000 from corporate events, however, which are supposed to be declared to his employer on a monthly basis. A Sunday Times investigation found that 11 of those events were not shared with the BBC.

Monthly disclosures by staff are shared with the public every three months after the corporation’s director-general, Tim Davie, ushered in new rules for the purpose of transparency in 2021.

Myrie’s biggest undeclared event was a speaking role at a Views From the Top dinner, hosted by Dutch investment bank ING, at the Gherkin in London, for which he is said to have earned in excess of £10,000, according to The Times.

Other commitments included various speaking engagements for which he charged between £5,000 and £10,000. These include a conference for the National Residential Landlords Association last October, a dinner for Suffolk chamber of commerce in September last year, and the annual conference for the Coventry and Warwickshire chamber of commerce in November 2023.

He was also paid an additional £5,000 to £10,000 for attending an event for Anthology Together, an education technology company.

A spokesperson for the BBC has said: “We have spoken to Clive to remind him of his responsibilities with regards to the external events register and he has apologised for these errors.”

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They added that the BBC’s register of external earnings would be “updated at the next quarterly publication to include all relevant events that were previously omitted”.

The BBC, which is funded by British taxpayers, was also embroiled in controversy earlier this year after it was forced to answer for how it would reclaim £479,000 worth of pay from Huw Edwards after he pled guilty to making indecent images.

MARRIED at First Sight’s Amy Kenyon has wowed fans with her jetsetting luxury lifestyle and show-stopping figure.

The tanned bride, 29, was introduced as part of two new couples midway through the series and has already left her mark on the prolific TV show.

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Viewers watched the Blackburn beauty marry prison worker Luke from Kent this week — but he soon gave her the ‘ick‘.

During their photo shoot on their wedding day, he kissed her on the hand and said: “Hello baby.”

But speaking to camera, Amy said: “It’s giving me the ick a little bit.”

Posting holiday snaps on social media, the TV star stunned in a dark brown bikini and a gold floral-laced sarong with oversized shades.

Channel 4 newbie Amy accessorised with gold jewellery including a tummy chain, chunky bangles, rings, earrings and a necklace, with her her long hair tumbling over her shoulders.

Sharing a trio of pictures, she captioned them: “I come in threes.”

Other holiday photos showed her posing alongside a friend on a night out wearing a tight T-shirt with strategically-placed cherries and red mini skirt with red PVC high heels.

The pair were perched on a balcony in front of the swimming pool with their legs entangled together seductively in the fun Spanish snaps.

Amy wrote: “A whole lotta leg.” Fans commented on the fruity pics: “Angel.” A second added: “Stunning.” A third agreed: “Wow, unreal.”

The wedding coordinator is looking for the “man of her dreams” and a “tall man who’s a gentleman”.

The island-hopper is hoping that relationship experts Paul Carrick Brunson, Charlene Douglas and Australian star Mel Schilling will help her find her happily ever after.

A source told us that she previously “enjoyed a string of dates” with former MAFS UK 2023 groom Arthur Poremba.

“Amy and Arthur had been messaging each other for a little while.

“She then disappeared for three months to go on the show and then all of a sudden reappeared one day and he went ‘where the f*** did you go?’

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“She said she couldn’t tell him so he asked her if she’d been on Married At First Sight and she confirmed she had.”

The insider explained: “They ended up meeting up and going to a rave together after that, but didn’t get on romantically so decided not to pursue things.”

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