BBC Radio 5 Live fans have been left conflicted after host Nihal Arthanayake announced he is quitting his daytime show. The 52-year-old radio host has worked for the BBC since 2002 when he first joined as a BBC Radio 1 host where he co-hosted the Asian Beats show. He then became a weekend breakfast show host on the radio channel in 2007 before being moved to a weekend afternoon slot the following year.
He began hosting BBC Radio 1's Review With Nihal in 2009 - while also hosting shows on the Asian Network from 2007. He left BBC Radio 1 in 2014 and began carving out a successful career on the airwaves from 2016 by helming discussion shows and panels. He joined 5 Live in 2016 and has been helming the afternoon slot on the show that hits the air from 1pm until 4pm from Monday to Thursday.
But now he is hanging up his afternoon microphone to seek out a new line of work. The host has been presenting shows for BBC Radio since 2002 ( Image: Can Nguyen/REX/Shutterstock) Nihal has carved an impressive career hosting in-depth interviews ( Image: X/ @TherealNihal) Boots shoppers can get £116 skincare bundle for less than £10 in money-saving deal Taking to X on Monday, Nihal dropped his bombshell on fans, with a post explaining: “Hello everyone, some professional news from me. I am leaving daytimes on @bbc5live to concentrate on the aspect of broadcasting I love most, which is in depth long form interviews, which I will continue to do on @bbc5live on Sunday evenings and the Headliner.