Vernon Kay said goodbye to a Radio 2 colleague as they confirmed their departure from the station. The 51-year-old disclosed on Tuesday that one of his news team was preparing to leave the popular programme, before "coming back" at a subsequent date.

Harvey Cook operates as a freelance newsreader for both BBC Radio 2 and 6Music. Beyond delivering news for the BBC, he has supplied voice overs for Sky, Channel 4 and Disney as well as narrating programmes on the History Channel, ITV One and Discovery. Whilst on-air, Vernon confirmed Harvey would nevertheless be departing his Radio 2 role.

After Harvey had completed reading the headlines on Tuesday, Vernon said: "Harvey, don't you go anywhere my friend, we're going to say thank you to Harvey Cook because he's moving on, then coming back, then moving on, then coming back.

"But Harvey, thank you for doing the news on this show, it's greatly appreciated. It's always nice to have someone who can actually bring some gravitas to the show."

Harvey told Vernon it had been an "absolute pleasure" to work on the show. He added: "It's more au revoir than goodbye. I'll be back. It's been an absolute pleasure and to be part of the Radio 2 family, you know what it's like, it's been a great pleasure."

Harvey has shared the Radio 2 studio with some of the station's most iconic presenters. In 2024 he paid a heartfelt tribute to the late Steve Wright following the announcement of his sudden death. It was subsequently confirmed that the 69-year-old died from a ruptured stomach ulcer.

On social media, Harvey wrote: "Few understood how radio worked like Steve Wright. A true legend! He was a part of so many people's lives with his companionship and entertainment. I count myself lucky to have had Steve as a colleague and am grateful for his support and kindness. Ta Steve from 'Harv!'

Meanwhile, Vernon announced the tragic death of his Radio 2 network manager Ian Deeley. The presenter had just concluded playing a track on his programme when he revealed that 45-year-old Ian had died unexpectedly.

Beginning the heartbreaking announcement, he told listeners: "As you can imagine at Radio 2, it's not just the names in the Radio Times who do all the work. We do very little, we just talk when we put up the fader, I'll be honest with you, myself and every on-air name included.

"It's the massive team behind Radio 2 that make this network so successful," he continued.

"And the BBC family were devastated to hear that our brilliant studio manager, Ian Deeley, had died unexpectedly but peacefully at the age of 45. At his heart, Ian was a broadcaster, so whether he was driving the desk, engineering an outside broadcast, producing or presenting, Ian just loved radio with every fibre of his being.

"Even though he was a relatively young chap, Ian had a long and illustrious career, during which he pretty much worked on every BBC radio station," he added.

Reflecting on his lengthy career at the network, Vernon continued: "His time at the BBC started with news shifts followed by production work and more recently, Ian was working with our colleagues on the outside broadcast team, or 'the Broadside Outcasts' as he jokingly called them."

Vernon went on to explain that Ian had worked a variety of events during his time at Radio 2 with his outdoor broadcast team, including pop festivals, the BBC proms and a host of royal events. Vernon added: "The one that stands out for us and our little team is the one where Ian personally made sure that our show from the beaches of Normandy a few years ago went seamlessly - and it did.

"Ian was our lead engineer on our D-Day [80th] celebrations and he was so dedicated that he went on a [reconnaissance trip] over to France in his own time, just to make sure everything was up to his incredible high standard."

In other news, Vernon will return to television screens tonight (March 25) with Do You Know Your Place? from 6.30pm on BBC Two. The show challenges people and celebrities on whether they really know the place they think they're most familiary with.