Rylan Clark says 'I'll have to be a bad influence' as he sends emotional message to Radio 2 star

Rylan Clark says he will have to be a “bad influence” to pal Scott Mills as he prepares to take over Zoe Ball’s Radio 2 show.

Zoe, 54, announced she will be leaving the breakfast show after six years. She will be replaced by Radio 2 colleague Scott Mills, who currently presents the 2pm slot on weekdays.

The move prompted Rylan to warn he will have to be a “bad influence” on Scott as he fears it will put an end to their “late nights on the town”. The duo struck up a friendship over their love of Eurovision, commentating on the semi-finals together.

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On his Rylan on Saturday show, the 36-year-old star said: “Our lovely Zoe, she is leaving Breakfast, she is going to have a nice little lay-in and my Eurovision husband Scott, well, I’m going to have to say goodbye to the late nights with him out on the town. Or am I? I might just have to be a bad influence babes.”

Rylan said it would be “nice” for Scott to be waking him up in the morning, claiming he often gets his colleague up at Eurovision to “tan his back”. He also paid tribute to Zoe Ball, whose slot Rylan took over when he joined Radio 2 in January 2019.

He added: “I just want to say, Zo, we all love you so dearly. If it weren’t for you babe, I wouldn’t have this show, because lest we forget, six years ago I replaced Zoe here on Saturday afternoons when she moved to the breakfast job.

“Zoe, we love and we’re going to miss waking up with you. But to my Scott, I’m so proud of you. I said online the other day, if you grazed your knee, you would bleed radio, it is just in your DNA and I know this is the number one job in your head.

“It’s what you’ve always wanted and we are so, so proud of you. I know the Radio One lot are all over the moon for you and we can’t wait to get you waking us up in January.

“It will be no different for me because he normally wakes me up at Eurovision. Actually, no, I normally wake him up at Eurovision saying ‘can you tan my back’ but it will be nice for him to wake me up.”

Announcing her decision to leave the breakfast slot, Zoe said: “After six years of fun times alongside you all on the breakfast show, I’ve decided it’s time to step away from the early alarm call and start a new chapter.

"You know I think the world of you all, listeners, and it truly has been such a privilege to share the mornings with you, to go through life’s little ups and downs, we got through the lockdown together, didn’t we? We’ve shared a hell of a lot, the good times, the tough times, there’s been a lot of laughter. And I am going to miss you cats."

Shortly after it was confirmed that Scott Mills will be taking over. In a statement, he said: "Zoe and I have been such good friends now for over 25 years and have spent much of that time as part of the same radio family here at Radio 2 and also on Radio 1. She’s done an incredible job on this show over the past six years, and I am beyond excited to be handed the baton.

"It feels ever since recording my first shows as a kid for an audience of one, my mum, all roads since have led to this amazing opportunity. It really is a lifelong dream come true to follow in the footsteps of Sir Terry, Chris and Zoe to be the new presenter of the Radio 2 Breakfast Show."