Sara Cox confesses she is reason dogs were banned from BBC radio studios

Sara Cox has confessed she is the reason dogs have now been banned from BBC Radio studios.

The 48-year-old DJ – owner of Maltese terrier Dolly – hosts the Radio 2 Drivetime show between 4pm and 7pm and was one of many DJ dog-owners at the station including the late Paul O'Grady and Michael Ball.

Cox told the Oh My Dog podcast: "There was an incident at Radio 2 – Dolly chewed a little wire.

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“She wasn’t injured. It wasn’t a very expensive or important wire, but chewed it was. And like an idiot, I confessed to it.

“The repercussions were quite big. Dogs were completely banned from all studios at Radio 2 from then on.

“Everything changed because of a moment of madness from Dolly.”

Dog lover O'Grady – who has just died unexpectedly at the age of 67 –left BBC Radio 2 after 14 years and famously used to take his pet pooches into work with him.

Ball, 60, also reportedly liked to take his dogs Wilbur and Danny into work with him before the ban.

Other DJs with dogs at Radio 2 include Scott Mills, Jo Whiley and Vernon Kay.

Cox joked: "I want to start a campaign for ‘Free the Radio 2 One’ to let Dolly back in the building.”

In 2022 BBC bosses defended Cox when she attracted complaints with a phone-in asking the listeners "What's The Most Random, Rickety Ride You've Ridden On?"

The radio DJ quipped: "That’s the thing with smaller local fairs, isn’t it? Their rollercoaster rides are held together with rusty screws, Blu Tack and crossed fingers."

But her comments prompted complaints from some listeners on social media – including Future 4 Fairgrounds, an organisation of female showmen campaigning to raise continued support for local fairs in the UK.

But the BBC said in a statement: "Sara made an off the cuff comment in response to a listener text about rollercoaster rides and was referring to her own childhood memories of fairground rides and not present day standards.

Read more: Sara Cox defended by BBC over joke about fairground rides

She did not mean to offend any of her listeners and the comment was in no way intended to be derogatory to local fairs."

Watch: Paul O'Grady introduces dog Sausage to Queen Consort Camilla