Casey Cooper-Fiske and Charlotte McLaughlin, PA Entertainment

Zoe Ball has signed off her final BBC Radio 2 show, saying that she hopes she "managed to bring some sunshine and light" to listeners when they most needed it.

The radio presenter, 54, received messages from singer Kylie Minogue, England footballer Alessia Russo and Doctor Who star David Tennant, as she said goodbye to her breakfast programme for the final time on Friday.

Ending the show, Ball thanked her listeners, saying: "It's been a real privilege to keep your company through your morning manoeuvres.

"You're just there and I'm just here having a chat with a mate. It's such a special intimate relationship.

"It's never lost on me that we've been through life's little highs and little lows together.

"I really do hope that we've managed to bring some sunshine and light when you've most needed a daft distraction from the hardest stuff, I've been bowled over by your messages, texts, emails, cards and letters across the years."

Before playing the final song, Kim Wilde's Keeping The Dream Alive, Ball said: "I have most definitely felt that love from you listeners. I feel very lucky to have been here.

"I send buckets of love out to you and your dear ones this Christmas, it's been very special. Take care of yourselves, lovely peeps, my top cats."

She began the programme in an upbeat mood, quoting adapted lines from Les Miserables' One Day More, telling listeners: "Another day, another destiny, one final show from me, ZB... only joking, I'm not going to sing, let's have some Daft Punk."

Ball began presenting The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show almost six years ago, in January 2019, taking over from radio presenter Chris Evans and becoming the first woman to present the show.

She announced her decision to leave in November, saying it was time for her to "step away from the very early mornings and focus on family".

Ball will return to the airwaves to present two episodes of Zoe Ball's Christmas Crooners, on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

From January, Scott Mills will take over the breakfast show and his previous weekday slot of 2pm to 4pm will be filled by Trevor Nelson.

Last month, Ball said on Instagram that she wakes up most days with "awful headaches" because of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder.

The condition affects the movement of the jaw and causes pain in the joint and surrounding muscles, according to the NHS.