I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! star Chris Moyles has hit out at the BBC claiming he was dramatically sacked with no notice after 15 years.
The presenter, 48, branded the network "very naughty" and said they handled his axing "so badly" when he left his role as Radio 1 host in 2012 after almost nine years.
Viewers watched Chris impassioned rant unfold on Monday night's show as he told Matt Hancock how being sacked from Radio 1 led to an LA holiday where he met his long-term partner, Tiffany Austin.
He explained: “I knew that Radio 1 is a conveyor belt and you might be there for a year or you might be there for 15 years, but you’re going to fall off the end at some point.”
Hancock said: “Politics is like that. Did you know the end was coming? Did you leave happy or did you leave cross?”
Chris replied: “I left happy, I was a bit cross after I left and I was cross… they handled it so badly, so badly.
"So I went in with my agent and the controller and we sit down and he goes, ‘Look, this isn’t very easy, I think it’s time we wrapped the show-up. We’re going to announce in the news at half 10 that Nick Grimshaw’s taking over.’”
Hancock responded: “No!”
Chris continued: “My agent went, ‘That’s out of order’ and it all got a bit steamy. And I’m like, ‘Both of you calm down, stop.’ I said to the boss, ‘You can’t do that.’ He goes, ‘Well if we don’t do that, it’ll get out.’ I said, ‘Well up until 60 seconds ago, I didn’t know about it. So, after 15 years, you can’t do that.
"I have to announce that I’m coming off the breakfast show and we have to work out what’s happening. This is not a two-minute conversation and that’s naughty.’
"So I said ‘Look, trust me, I’ve been here a long time, let me make the announcement and then I’d love to get involved with how we then announce who is going to take over.’
"And they announced it at 10.30 the next morning. We finished at 10 and they announced it at 10.30 that Nick was taking over. I was just like, ‘Ok, alright.’ But, they gave us three months to say goodbye, which was great. So I said, ‘You know, thanks for everything, cheers."
Hancock then asked how he felt after doing the huge job for 15 years and what he did next.
Chris said: “I decided to take a year off at that point. And that was fun. I went and rented a house in LA for a month, texted all my mates that lived there and people I’d got to know to go, ‘I’m back in town for 4 weeks, let’s get a coffee, let’s get dinner, let’s go to the pub.’ And I had a little life. And that’s where I met Tiffany [Austin]. She was living there.”
Hancock replied: “Oh, well that helped.”
Chris said: “Yeah, so everything happens for a reason.”
Chris added the Bush Telegraph added: “When you do the breakfast show on Radio 1 you get these amazing opportunities coming your way, but you always know in the back of your head, one day that will finish. So when it did finish, to do the musical, to do my own tour, and then meet my future girlfriend - then my life changed entirely. So, no regrets, all happy, it’s been a good journey so far.”
Mirror Online has contacted the BBC for comment.
*I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! returns at 9.15pm on Tuesday
