He became one of the faces of the early days of the war in Ukraine, bringing comprehensive and detailed reports from Kyiv following Vladimir Putin's bloody invasion. But some people wondered what a BBC game show host was doing covering a war.
Experienced reporter Clive Myrie has now returned from the Ukrainian capital as it was no longer safe for him to be there. And speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme he answered complaints about the BBC sending the host of Mastermind to cover the invasion.
Myrie has been a journalist for more than 30 years and took over from fellow BBC journalist John Humphrys as host of the high-brow quiz show last year. But some people seem to think that is his 'main' job.
He was asked on Today by presenter Nick Robinson, who had also reported live from Ukraine following the invasion: "Are you having some people coming up to you saying 'what's that bloke from Mastermind doing out in a war?"
Myrie replied: "I'm struggling to find the words to deal with this kind of question, because at the end of the day... I've been a journalist for 30 years. I'm actually a journalist not a presenter."
He added: "I know that there have been complaints from some people saying why has a presenter gone out to report on the war. I am a reporter as well."
"My job is not to sit behind a desk reading a damn autocue. It's to get out there and tell stories and I do it all the time," he told the radio show this morning.
After spending two weeks reporting from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, Myrie, 57, is back in London, having travelled to Romania after leaving Ukraine via Moldova.
Writing for the BBC, Myrie recalled the fear palpable among those sheltering in make-shift bomb shelters in Kyiv. He wrote: “There was a real fear foreign saboteurs were moving among the population and anyone caught outdoors would have been arrested."
He added: “You could see the nervousness on the faces of the soldiers and partisans manning checkpoints, despite the black balaclavas shielding them from the cold. Their eyes told stories of apprehension, concern, worry and existential threat.”
Myrie himself was staying in a basement car park in the centre of Kyiv which had become a make-shift bomb shelter.
Reflecting on the constant threat of attack from Russian forces, Myrie wrote: “The city was awash with rumour and dread. Who might that be in the bomb shelter next to you, who is listening in to your conversation in the bread queue? Best stay indoors and observe the curfew.”
He continued: “Villages, towns and cities across the land saw a vanishing, as citizens descended underground to subterranean worlds of refuge.”
Myrie specifically recalled a woman he had seen feeding birdseed to pigeons after the lifting of a weekend-long curfew.
He wrote: “I can’t get the image of the woman feeding the pigeons out of my head. She was risking bombs and missiles to feed the pigeons.
“For me, she represents strength and courage – the indomitability of an independent state, not the cowering fear of the colonised.”
In a tweet, Myrie later thanked members of the public for the support he received during the time he spent in Ukraine.
