The BBC Radio 2 presenter Zoe Ball has announced she is stepping down from her breakfast show after six years.

“After six incredible years on the Radio 2 Breakfast Show, it’s time for me to step away from the very early mornings and focus on family,” she told listeners on Tuesday.

Her last show will be on Friday 20 December, she said, and her replacement will be announced on Tuesday.

The 53-year-old took over the Radio 2 morning programme in 2019 from Chris Evans. She was absent from the airwaves for nearly two months over the summer when Scott Mills stepped in, returning in September amid speculation about her future on the station.

Announcing her departure on air, Ball said: “I’ve decided it’s time to step away from the early alarm call and start a new chapter. You know I think the world of you listeners and it truly has been such a privilege to share the mornings with you”.

She was the first female host of the Radio 1 Breakfast Show in 1998, a post she held until 2000.

She also co-hosted the BBC’s Saturday morning children’s magazine Live & Kicking alongside Jamie Theakston for three years from 1996.

In an official statement, she said: “After six incredible years on the Radio 2 Breakfast Show, it’s time for me to step away from the very early mornings and focus on family. It’s been a privilege. I think the world of you listeners and I’m grateful to my bosses here for their support, especially this year.”

Ball said her last show would be on 20 December, adding: “Just in time for Christmas with plenty of fun and shenanigans. While I’m stepping away from the Breakfast Show, I’m not disappearing entirely – I’ll still be a part of the Radio 2 family, with more news in the new year.

“I’m excited to embrace my next chapter, including being a mum in the mornings, and I can’t wait to tune in on the school run!”

Helen Thomas, the head of Radio 2, said: “Zoe has woken up the nation on Radio 2 with incredible warmth, wit and so much joy since January 2019, and I’d like to thank her for approaching each show with as much vim and vigour as if it were her first. I’m thrilled that she’ll remain an important part of the Radio 2 family.”

Ball has presented the BBC spin-off show Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two, and ITV’s reality competition show Mamma Mia! I Have a Dream.