End of an era as Annie Mac does last ever Radio 1 show - these are the best reactions

The love poured in for Annie Mac on Friday evening after the legendary DJ took to the air for her last BBC Radio 1 show after 17 years. The 43-year-old joined the team as an assistant producer before hosting her own show in 2004. She announced her decision to leave the station back in April to spend more time with her family.

She opened her emotional finale by saying: “It’s been 17 years and tonight we celebrate.”

“Tonight is going to be hopefully a really, really fun and nostalgic and hopefully not too emo ride.

“I have got the waterproof mascara on, my hands are actually shaking.”

Ahead of her final Future Sounds show, the DJ took to Instagram with a throwback photo of herself when she started out in the industry. She captioned the image: “It’s been a wild and thrilling ride. Thank you so much for allowing this excitable Dublin girl to play you music for 17 years - we go again one more time tonight. Xxx”

Emotional fans and friends of Annie flocked to Twitter to mark the ‘end of an era’. The overwhelming love for the DJ prompted her to trend for hours with the likes of Nick Grimshaw, Scott Mills, Fatboy Slim, Danny Howard and Pete Tong, among the hundreds of tweets.

Speaking to the Radio Times about her departure, she said: “I feel annoyed being grateful that we have a female breakfast show presenter on Radio 2 [Zoe Ball] or 6 Music [Lauren Laverne].”

“We shouldn’t be grateful. It should be a given, not an anomaly.”

Annie said that she was always “very encouraged” by Radio 1 and “the commitment they have to women.”

Clara Amfo will be taking Annie’s place on the show, which Annie says was “the most sensible and inspired choice”.