Daniel and Ylenia, Malta's most popular breakfast radio hosts, have announced the end of their programme after an eight-year run - and it was not their decision.

Their good-humoured banter from dawn right through rush hour on Bay Radio helped thousands of people start their day or hold on to their senses as they were stuck in traffic jams.

Yet, on Sunday, the duo, who recently became husband and wife, announced that their show had reached the end of its run.

Their last show was actually at the beginning of August, shortly after their wedding.  

But for the two presenters, the show was much more than just an average job.

They journeyed within it from being complete strangers to colleagues, friends, and eventually, husband and wife. 

“The show meant everything to us, it’s our baby so to speak. I started working on the show at 17, and now, I am married to my co-host," Ylenia told Times of Malta . 

"We joke now about how we never imagined that we would get together and marry. This programme saw us grow up together and was with us through different parts of our lives. It means so much to us.”

The newlyweds said the decision to end the breakfast radio show was not their own. 

“Radio management decided to change the schedule, and we were offered to host the afternoon show,” Daniel said.

“But we felt it did not make sense to start a brand new afternoon show after we had such a good eight-year run on our morning show.”

The decision came at the same time as a Broadcasting Authority survey, not for the first time, showed Bay Breakfast was the country’s most popular radio programme. 

No farewell show was announced because the station wanted to keep the new schedule under wraps. A new breakfast show started on Monday.

“We stopped hosting the show back in August, and many listeners thought we were just on a long honeymoon,” Daniel said. 

“But once people saw we were back in Malta, Ylenia started to receive messages asking when we would return to the radio.”

Ylenia said it was “bittersweet” to not host a farewell show, but said the couple ended on good terms with 89.7 Bay.

The ending of their show coincided with the popular radio trio of Vibe FM Jonathan Abel, JD Patrick and Martina Zammit bidding farewell to The Morning Vibe programme after a decade of entertaining listeners. 

‘We couldn’t have done it without the listeners’

Ylenia started to work with Daniel on the breakfast show after they hosted a New Year’s special show together. At the time, she had already worked for two years on the breakfast show, and Daniel was general manager at 89.7 Bay. 

“They (the station) liked how we sounded together and decided to put us [together] on one show,” she recalled. 

“It is very cute to think we shared our lives on this show,” she said. 

She said the couple received thousands of messages from listeners when they announced they would no longer host the show.

“Some even suggested we start a petition to host the show once again, imagine that,” she laughed. 

She said her fondest memories were of charitable events the duo hosted, particularly a radio show that was on air for 33 hours. 

For Daniel, one of his most cherished moments was when the duo were to announce they were an official couple in 2021.

“It was a week when many people were speculating on social media whether we were a couple or not. Some people were also sharing pictures of us holding hands in Valletta,” he recalled. 

“It was exciting to finally announce our relationship," he said

“We were nervous because we didn’t know how the station would react,” Ylenia added. 

Two years later, Daniel proposed to Ylenia during a Jonas Brothers concert, her favourite band. This July, the couple said 'I do'. 

Both thanked their listeners for their support and love. 

"Every moment of the show was a great memory, and we couldn't have done it without the listeners," he said.

Will the couple return on air? 

"We do plan to be back on air," Daniel said, with Ylenia asking listeners to keep an eye on their social media for updates.