The rise of Sara Cox – from Bolton to landing Radio 2 Breakfast Show

The Bolton-born DJ, 51, will take over the slot in the summer, following the sacking of Scott Mills.

She started her broadcasting career on TV in 1996, presenting The Girlie Show on Channel 4, and later had stints on Channel 5 entertainment show Exclusive and Channel 4’s Born Sloppy.

She also worked at MTV before she joined The Big Breakfast as the “on the bed interviewer” talking to stars including Robbie Williams and Leonardo DiCaprio.

(Image: Ian West/PA Wire)

She joined the BBC in 1999, co-presenting a lunchtime Saturday show with Emma B before fronting the Radio 1 Breakfast show until 2003.

Over the course of her career Sara presented a range of shows for the network including the weekday afternoon show, weekday mornings and weekend afternoon show.

In 2011 Sara joined Radio 2 before launching her Sounds of the 80s programme in 2013.

In 2018 it was announced that Sara would succeed Simon Mayo in the teatime slot, where she promised listeners “plenty of giggles”.

The show features the popular Kids In The Car segment, where children send in messages while travelling in the car on the way home.

Sara Cox (Image: BBC)

Over the course of her career at the BBC she has participated in a number of challenges to help raise money for charity, including taking part in a non-stop 24-hour 80s Dance Challenge in 2017 for Comic Relief where she raised £1.2 million.

In November 2025, she completed Sara’s Great Northern Marathon Challenge, walking and running 135 miles in five days from Kielder Forest in Northumberland to Pudsey in West Yorkshire and raised £11.5 million for Children in Need.

Sara is married to marketing executive Ben Cyzer, with whom she shares two children. She also has a daughter with ex-husband Jon Carter.

Her memoir of growing up in 1980s Lancashire, Till the Cows Come Home: A Lancashire Childhood, was published in 2019 and she has also written two novels – Thrown and Way Back.