After noticing tears welling up in the eyes of some of our readers, we thought we should confirm that Lucy Alexander is to step down as the co-presenter of BBC One property auction show Homes Under The Hammer.

Lucy has fronted the daytime show alongside Martin Roberts since 2003.

They were joined in 2015 by a third presenter, ex-footballer Dion Dublin.

BBC Daytime controller Dan McGolpin paid tribute to Lucy’s “infectious enthusiasm” for property.

Lucy said she had “loved every minute” of making the show, which has an average audience of 1.1 million viewers.

She wrote on Twitter that she was leaving the show with a heavy heart and stepping down was “not the outcome I wanted, but to pursue other work and a commercial deal, I had to leave”.

She added that she would miss Roberts, who she called her TV husband.

A BBC spokesman said Lucy would not be filming any more series of the show, but would still be seen in episodes that had already been filmed and in repeats.

We suspect that Lucy could be handing out the gongs at an industry event before too long…