Former Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? host Chris Tarrant revealed last year that he was stepping away from TV after 52 years, and now he’s opened up about the decision
Chris Tarrant has opened up about why he retired from TV after 52 years on-air.
The former Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? host announced he was quitting TV at the end of last year. The presenter has been on telly for 50 years – his first appearance was back in 1972 when he was a newsreader for ATV Today.
But he’s famed for presenting Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and did so for 16 years, from its first episode in 1998 until deciding to leave in 2014. He’s now revealed he lost five really good friends of his around his age and it prompted him to stop working.
On Tuesday’s (July 15) Good Morning Britain, the 78-year-old spoke to presenters Charlotte Hawkins and Richard Madeley about retiring. Charlotte asked: “A lot of people will be thinking, ‘Well, hold on, we haven’t seen Chris Tarrant on TV for ages!’, Why is that?”
Chris replied: “I used to work like a dog, for years. I lost five really good mates, my sort of age, over about 12 months. I just thought, well, you know, I’m about the same age, I’ve worked very hard all my life.
“I thought, do I really want to spend the rest of my life, whether that’s a year, 10 years, 20 years or whatever, do I want to spend it in radio studios and TV studios? No, I don’t. So I just pop in now to plug my book and then go home again.”
Tarrant told the two presenters that he has a ‘really nice’ life now and he’s enjoying it. He added: “I enjoyed working, but now I have a really good time!”
Richard brought up that Chris often gets invited to take part in reality shows, wanting to know whether or not people would ever see him on one. But it seems he’s not having it, because when Charlotte suggested he join the I’m A Celeb line-up, Chris firmly disagreed with the idea.
He replied: “No, I really wouldn’t. I just couldn’t stand it, I really couldn’t. I don’t want to lie with my head covered in maggots and them going down my trousers, no thanks.”
Richard told Chris that people miss seeing him on the TV, as Charlotte outed her co-star for a name mix-up when he went on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
She said: “You (Richard) kept calling Jeremy (Clarkson) Chris by mistake! So there you go, that’s how much he missed you.”
Chris replied: “When you do a show like that, one of the briefings, know the name of the host! It’s very important.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
