Frank Skinner became emotional as he told listeners they had been “the fourth member of the team” as he signed off his final Absolute Radio show after 15 years at the station.

The broadcaster and comedian, 67, has been on Absolute Radio since 2009 and was inducted into the Radio Academy Hall of Fame in December 2015.

In March, he announced his departure, saying at the time that he did not take the news well, having hosted the Saturday breakfast slot The Frank Skinner Show, alongside co-hosts Emily Dean and Pierre Novellie.

During Saturday’s show, Skinner said: “I thanked our readers before but honestly, the just, funny, interesting, informative, honest, you’ve triggered off, sort of entire shows have been based on one funny text or email.

“I shall miss you, I suppose I see you as one group but as I said, you’ve totally been the fourth member of the team.”

Skinner said over the last 15 years the show had been his “radio diary”, and went on to thank Dean, joking that “without her, this show would have been all right”, before adding: “But she has been a key component, we’d have done 15 weeks if it wasn’t for her, instead of 15 years.”

He apologised to listeners, saying he was sorry the team was leaving, and added: “It’s pretty well-documented, I don’t want to go.”

Joking he’d spent his redundancy money on Lego Avengers, he then signed off for good, saying: “You’ve been the best audience ever. I can’t do the ‘we’ll be back next week’, because we won’t, we’ll never be back. But I love you all. Bye bye.”

A Bauer spokesperson said in a statement to the PA News Agency: “We’d like to share our huge thanks with Frank who has played a massive part of the Absolute Radio story for 15 years, and we wish him all the best on his next adventures.”

Investitures at Buckingham Palace
Christopher Collins professionally known as Frank Skinner after being made a member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to entertainment during an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace, London. Picture date: Thursday April 20, 2023.

Skinner was made an MBE in the 2022 New Year Honours list, where he was recognised for his services to entertainment.

Alongside fellow comic and screenwriter David Baddiel, Skinner makes up one half of Baddiel and Skinner, the duo behind TV programmes Fantasy Football and Baddiel And Skinner Unplanned.

Along with Liverpudlian rock band The Lightning Seeds, the football-fanatic pair wrote football anthem Three Lions, which was first released for the 1996 Euro tournament being held in England.

Skinner has published a number of books, including two autobiographies and Dispatches From The Sofa: The Collected Wisdom Of Frank Skinner, which consists of a collection of his columns for The Times.

His TV work includes creating and hosting three series of Frank Skinner’s Opinionated for BBC Two, presenting multiple series of BBC One’s Room 101 and Portrait/Landscape Artist of the Year for Sky Arts.

He has also presented documentaries for the BBC on Muhammad Ali, Elvis Presley and the life of actor and musician George Formby.