Chris Moyles, BBC’s longest-serving breakfast host, declared today that he would leave the BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show as he is worried that he is too old to interest younger listeners, and reaching a “mutual decision” with Radio 1 controller Ben Cooper that he would be replaced by T4 presenter Nick Grimshaw, 11 years his junior.

On the verge of his departure, a four-minute farewell was organised, and Moyles played Herod in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical production of Jesus Christ Superstar in September. “I hope you stay with us until the end because I promise it’s going to be brilliant… thank you for listening. I’ve had the best time of my life,” he told his listeners.

Cooper’s fear of being unable to attract young audience is understandable, as a report by the BBC Trust in June warned it needed to focus more on the under-thirties, because research claimed the average Radio 1 listener was 32, rising to 33 for Moyles’s show. The upset DJ played Take That’s Never Forget and sighed, “A weird thing about this job is almost since day one there has been speculation over how long it would last.”

He continued how there were rumours that his bosses wanted him to be out and the front-page stories claimed he was going to be sacked before the end of the year.

Nick Grimshaw, affectionately known as “Grimmy”, exclaimed on his appointment, “I’m super excited to be hosting the iconic Radio 1 Breakfast Show. It’s been a dream of mine since the age of 11 and to be honest it hasn’t really sunk in yet. I love Chris and have always looked up to him as one of the best broadcasters ever.”