Dan Walker to replace Bill Turnbull on the BBC Breakfast sofa

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(Image credit: BBC Pictures)

Dan Walker is the new co-anchor of BBC Breakfast, replacing the ever popular Bill Turnbull, on Leap Day Monday.

Dan, 38, has primarily worked in sports at the BBC, hosting Football Focus and, occasionally, Match of the Day, and he will team up with Louise Minchin from Mondays to Wednesdays. Dan currently hosts Afternoon Edition on BBC Radio 5 live, reporting on the biggest stories and breaking news of the day.

Dan said: "I’m thrilled to be joining the BBC Breakfast team. I have watched the show avidly over the years and am even looking forward to setting my alarm clock and doing what I can to make it even more successful.

"It is an honour to be given this opportunity and to follow in the footsteps of someone like Bill Turnbull. The man has significant shoes to fill, so I hope I can do as good a job as he did waking up the nation."

Bookmaker William Hill suggested the job was as good as Dan's back in September when a rush of bets on him at 25/1 led to them suspending the market.

A William Hill spokesman said: "Thankfully we have only lost a small four figure sum, but if it had not been for our eagle eyed traders we could have lost a fortune."

BBC Breakfast editor Adam Bullimore says: "Dan is an experienced journalist and presenter who will be a fantastic addition to the brilliant BBC Breakfast presenting team. He’s well used to handling breaking news and the challenges live TV can pose. We’re looking forward to him joining us on our sofa."

Patrick McLennan
Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.