September 2, 2015

Bill Turnbull leaves BBC Breakfast after 15 years with ‘some sadness, but no regrets’

BBC Breakfast presenter Bill Turnbull is leaving the show after 15 years – to spend more time with his bees.

Turnbull confirmed the news on Twitter after a story appeared in the Daily Mirror, saying: "He's right, you know."

BBC Breakfast posted two photos of him on the show's red sofa with his co-presenters, who were wiping tears away.

Turnbull is believed to be leaving to spend more time with his wife as well as his beloved bees.

The 59-year-old told the Mirror: "I agreed to come north for two years and it went so well I agreed to do another two years.

"That is coming to an end – by that time I will have been doing the show for nearly 15 years, which is more than enough for me and the audience. So it is a good time to call it a day and do something else.

"It was a long-term decision. I could see this coming up, and it was always the plan.

"I'll leave early next year. There is some sadness, but no regrets."

He told the paper: "I have been neglecting my bees for far too long. They are on a farm, they were going to come up here to the Lakes where we live but it was too windy.

"They are down in Buckinghamshire. I don't see them very often but they don't seem to mind!"

The presenter also said his 3am starts were something "you never get used to".

The BBC press office was unable to tell Press Gazette whether Turnbull will continue to work for the corporation beyond BBC Breakfast.

Topics in this article : BBC