Today meets tomorrow as presenters jump ship

Departing BBC stars make more from their own shows in big switch-off

- Erica Wagner & Ceri Thomas

When Channel 4 poached The Great British Bake Off from the BBC in 2016, the two presenters, Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins, announced they were quitting the show: “We made no secret of our desire for the show to remain where it was [on BBC One]... we're not going with the dough.

A decade later, the BBC is struggling to keep hold of its people, not just in the busy world of entertainment, but at the very heart of BBC News itself - on the Today programme.

Amol Rajan announced last week that he will be leaving the BBC Today programme to set up his own production company. “Del Boy was my hero growing up, and it’s time to unleash my inner entrepreneur,” was his forthright line. Mishal Husain, who presented the programme for a decade, left just over a year ago and has launched The Mishal Husain Show on Bloomberg. Emma Barnett, who joined the programme not quite two years ago, is understood to have been discussing her next move with BBC executives. Owenna Griffiths, the editor of Today for more than five years, is said to be planning to step down and leave the BBC.

There was a time when a presenter's chair in the Today studio was considered so interesting and influential that, even despite the buzzing of the alarm at 3am to get to work, no one wanted to give up the job. John Humphrys presented the programme for 32 years; James Naughtie for just over 20; Justin Webb is coming up for 17.