Sara Cox began her first ever BBC Radio 2 breakfast show with a tongue-in-cheek legal warning to listeners after replacing Scott Mills.
Mills, 51, was sacked in March after it emerged he was investigated over alleged serious sexual offences against a boy under 16 between 1997 and 2000.
Cox was later announced as his successor for the morning slot and began her first day as the new host on Monday morning.
In a humorous nod at her role, she played songs like Lizzo’s hit About Damn Time and CeCe Peniston’s hit Finally, but drew the line at Ella Fitzgerald’s At Last, saying it was “too self-indulgent”.
Cox then introduced her new game for listeners called Surprise and Shine, insisting it wasn’t like her old game Totally Game during her former BBC Radio 2 teatime slot.
“If anybody dares say this is similar to a feature I did on teatime, my lawyers are listening,” the broadcaster joked.
“Okay? There is very little similarity to Totally Devoted. It’s got a different name for a start.”
Cox then said: “It's a Monday and it's your favourite presenter - me - feeling a little bit clingy and I want some love.
“Time to register for Surprise and Shine! This is the part of the show where I'll be surprising one lucky listener with an early morning call and answer with the correct phrase and you win a pair of Sara's socks.
“They are orange socks with my actual face on the bony bit of the ankle. I have arrived!”
She revealed the phrase for this week is simply “I’m on board for brekkie,” and urged listeners to register for the game, which begins tomorrow morning.
Cox also thanked Gary Davies who who was “parachuted in” to fill the slot after Mills was taken off air.
She said: “For the past few months, a legend has been doing breakfast, and we can’t not say thank you to him this morning.“He was parachuted in. He did a proper shift. The one, the only, you love him, Mr Gary Davies.”
Her first guest on the show was Hollywood actor Tom Hanks.
Cox had fronted teatime show, 4pm to 7pm, on the station since 2018. She revealed last week that she wasn’t “nervous” about taking over from Mills.
“It’s huge but I’m ready,” she told the Times.
“I might have to bury my phone in my neighbour’s sandpit a couple of days before because I don’t like people texting me good luck, but the minute I open my mic, I’ll be fine.
“I’m not nervous because I know I can do a good job. I don’t want to sound arrogant but I’ve been doing radio for 28 years now.”
The presenter said that despite loving the teatime slot, she was ready for another challenge.
She said: “I think if you’re ambitious, you always want to do the next big thing. After seven years on a show that I absolutely love, that I give 100 per cent to every day, I was starting to feel ready for another challenge.”
Asked about her predecessor Mills, she said: “I know no more than you do about the whole thing.”
Mills was sacked by the BBC, shortly before it emerged police had launched an investigation into him in 2016 over allegations of serious sexual offences involving a boy under 16.
He allegedly stayed in contact with the boy for years until around 2006. The investigation was dropped due to lack of evidence.
The BBC confirmed it knew about the police investigation into Mills in 2017, but said it “acted decisively” after receiving “new information” in the weeks before his sacking.
In April, Mills released a statement through his lawyers saying he had been the subject of “rumour and speculation” since his sacking.
He added that he had “co-operated fully” with the police investigation into the allegations. Mills is reportedly planning to sue the BBC for “unfair dismissal” over his sacking.
