Vernon Kay shares health update as he returns to BBC Radio 2 slot

BBC Radio 2 presenter Vernon Kay has returned to his normal radio slot after he was forced to pull out of Tuesday’s show on orders from his doctor.

The 50-year-old presenter sounded hoarse and unwell as he presented Monday morning’s show (23 september), with some listeners remarking he sounded “awful” and shouldn’t be working.

The next day, Kay told his followers that his doctor had advised him to go on vocal rest, and that Gabby Roslin would be stepping in to cover him.

The All Star Family Fortunes returned to the airwaves on Wednesday morning (25 September) sounding less croaky, telling his followers he wasn’t feeling fully recovered yet, but was aiming to plough through.

“We’re back. We’re not 100%,” he said. “But if I took another day off with a sore throat, the big fella, Norman my dad, would have killed me.”

Kay added that Monday’s show was “horrific” but thanked his listeners for supporting him by sending in more voice notes as usual to fill in gaps in the show.

“It;s surprising when you’ve lost your voice how much energy it takes to speak,” he remarked.

He added: “Thank you for your help, we managed to get through it with your voice notes.”

“Big thanks to Gabby for taking over yesterday. She’s such a lovely person.”

During Kay’s show on Monday, listeners remarked that it was “unprofessional” that Kay was allowed to broadcast in his condition.

One listener wrote: “It’s actually a bit unprofessional in my opinion. I don’t know what @BBCRadio2 are thinking of. It’s 1 thing him going in, but Vernon wasn’t sent home sounding like that when he’s on for 2.5 hours?”

Another added: “It’s awful to hear Vernon‘s not well. Couldn’t he stay at home and wait till his voice gets better? I love the man but couldn’t Radio 2 have got a last minute DJ replacement? Me! Or you! Don’t mind but I hate hearing a bad cold type voice on the radio.”

“WOW! Vernon Kay sounds awful this morning,” chimed another fan. “His voice is almost gone. Get better soon Vern.”

On his return on Wednesday, Kay was more bubbly as he asked listeners to help him suggest a new sound for his “School Register” segment.

Sending voice messages into the programme, one listener joked: “Welcome back to Vern’s voice” as another said, “Good to have you back”.