BBC Radio 2 listeners frustrated as £1.5m of top talent including Zoe Ball and Jeremy Vine are on holiday
RADIO 2 fans have been left feeling cheated after most of the station’s star presenters booked off the same week.
Six of the Beeb’s biggest radio names — Zoe Ball, 48, Ken Bruce, 68, Jeremy Vine, 54, Steve Wright, 64, Sara Cox, 44, and Trevor Nelson, 55 — have all been on holiday.
It means that, with their BBC salaries combined, more than £1.5million of talent has been off air at the same time.
The rash of absences has left stand-ins holding the fort this week.
Deputies include former Strictly winner Ore Oduba, 33, Gary Davies, 61, and Fearne Cotton, 37.
Others to step in are BBC media editor Amol Rajan, 35, and 57-year-old Vanessa Feltz, who usually hosts an early morning Radio 2 show but has moved in the schedule to cover Sara.
Steve was missing on Tuesday when his show was hosted by O J Borg, 40, but was back the next day.
One listener told The Sun: “Could they not have staggered their holiday a bit so they’re not all off at once?
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“Radio 2 bills itself as the music played by ‘an amazing line-up’ — but this is definitely the B team.
“It might be half-term but there’s 52 weeks in a year, so it’s surprising bosses have just let them all take the same week.”
A BBC spokeswoman said: “When show presenters are on holiday their programmes are presented by a range of brilliant Radio 2 talent.”
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