There were howls of derision when it scrapped its live shows last year and moved to a pre-recorded format.
Now, in a fresh blow to Blue Peter, its star presenter Joel Mawhinney is quitting, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Mawhinney, 28, who boasts 16.5 million followers on TikTok, told BBC bosses this month of his decision to leave after four years.
There are now fears that his girlfriend and co-presenter Shini Muthukrishnan, 24, could follow him out the door.
An insider told the MoS: ‘Joel has done his time on Blue Peter and felt the time was right to explore other opportunities.
‘Bosses were gutted by his decision but understood his reasons for wanting to leave.
‘They are now just hoping that they can hang onto Shini. Joel and Shini are such a great partnership both on and off screen. Joel will film his final show in the coming months.’
The MoS revealed last year how the pair had fallen for each other while working together on the CBBC show.
Joel Mawhinney, 28, has quit Blue Peter after four years presenting the show
Mawhinney and Shini Muthukrishnan, 24, fell in love after meeting while working at CBBC
Now BBC bosses are worried Muthukrishnan could follow her boyfriend out of the door
Often sharing pictures of their life together on social media, the couple celebrated their first anniversary together in August with Mawhinney writing a sweet tribute to his girlfriend: ‘One year down, forever to go.’
Over Christmas and New Year, they enjoyed a romantic holiday in New York. The Bangor-born talent was announced as Blue Peter’s 41st presenter back in 2022 following in the footsteps of hosts, such as Valerie Singleton and John Noakes.
While on the programme, he met King Charles and Queen Camilla in Liverpool in April 2023 ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest and Coronation celebrations.
Taking part in a number of gruelling physical challenges for the children’s show, he scaled a wire 500ft above a Cumbrian slate mine and completed a Royal Marines endurance course.
As well as being a presenter, he is also a magician and was the youngest ever member of the Irish Magic Circle.
He also got to the last stages of being chosen to appear as a contestant on last year’s Strictly but BBC bosses decided not to go for him in the final line-up.
The source added: ‘Joel has the world at his feet. This year is going to be huge for him.’
A Blue Peter spokesman said Shini would continue to present the show with Abby Cook and the dog Hacker but a search had begun to replace Joel.