Fans of BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour were shocked and devastated at the news of Jane Garvey’s departure after 13 years on the programme. Jane co-hosts the show with Jenni Murray who also announced she would be leaving after three decades presenting.
There were rumours she was fired, but speaking to Fi Glover on the podcast ‘Fortunately... with Fi and Jane’, she revealed she chose to leave herself because of a lack of change in the world and with her frustration of continually discussing the same topics over and over. “It’ll be great to have fresh indignation on the programme, my indignation bank was somewhat depleted”, Jane said to Fi.
Jane is to be replaced by BBC Radio 5 Live presenter Emma Barnett, who, Fi pointed out is a “generation younger than you.”
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To which Jane responded, “Emma Barnett is a force of nature, I’ll certainly be listening. It is going to be different, it won’t be the same, which isn’t to say it is going to be bad…More power to its elbow.”
She joined the show when her daughter started reception and now her daughter is in her final year of school. For her, this was an easy signal that she had been there just a little bit too long. “It’s lovely to be part of the comforting fabric of national life, but it is a job which needs a bit of churn,” Jane continued, “it just needs a reboot and now it is going to get one.”
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“I haven’t left yet but I’m already missing it”, Jane said to Fi. As someone who doesn’t like change her decision didn’t come easily and she laughed at her not so great timing to leave amid a global pandemic.
In her usually witty manner, Jane took to Twitter to quip, “Thanks for all the comments. Especially the one that said I was way too opinionated... a man should take over BBC Woman’s Hour immediately.”
She will continue to present the show until the end of the year, before hosting her own new Radio 4 series in 2021.
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