Sara Cox said she was "waiting in the wings" to host the BBC Radio 2 breakfast show as she was confirmed as Scott Mills’ replacement.
The Bolton-born DJ, 51, who currently hosts the 4-7pm show on the station, will take over the role in the summer.
Cox said it had always been her dream to host the breakfast show, but she would not swap the last seven years hosting the teatime show "for anything."
Mills was sacked by the BBC in March, shortly before it emerged the Metropolitan Police launched an investigation into the 53-year-old in 2016 over allegations of serious sexual offences involving a teenage boy under 16 between 1997 and 2000.
Mills released a statement through his lawyers saying he had been the subject of “rumour and speculation” since he was fired, and that he “co-operated fully” with the police investigation into allegations of a historical sexual offence.
