Dan Walker has opened up about the moment that he was sacked by talkSPORT despite issuing an apology for the incident.
The 43-year-old BBC Breakfast host said that he was just making his way in the media world and was looking to forge a career in radio when he was 20.
While he is now a regular in the mornings on Auntie Beeb, there was a time when his future in TV and radio looked very much in doubt.
The dad-of-three has spoken about the beginnings of his career and said that he missed his show on talkRADIO, one morning, and that the station controller called him afterwards to tell him he had been "sacked" as a presenter.
Speaking to The Express, Dan revealed that he had arrived an hour and a half late for his job and that he had "apologised profusely" for the circumstances which were beyond his control.
He said that he was on a two-week contract with the station at the time and a terrorist incident in the capital had meant that he was unable to travel to work.
Dan was commuting from Liverpool at the time and he said police barred his way, leading to him missing his show.
Dan said: "I've only ever been sacked from one job. This was years ago when I was 20 or something.
"I got sacked by talkSPORT on the third day in the job. There was a terrorist incident in London - a bomb scare.
"I was living in Liverpool at the time and I had to drive down every day."
He went on: "On the third day, I was driving and the police came in front of me and said the road was closed.
"I was an hour and a half late for the programme."
Dan said that the station controller didn't "believe him" when he explained what had happened.
He continued: "The controller phoned me up the next morning and said, 'Don't bother coming in today. You're sacked.'
"They had already done 45 minutes of the programme which I apologised for profusely."
Fortunately for Dan, this setback didn't stop him forging a formidable career on TV and has now been hosting the breakfast show on BBC for nearly five years.
He has no plans to leave either, saying: "If you told me when I started that I would be doing four and a half years, I would have gone, 'Don't be daft.' But I really enjoy it.
"I love working with Louise [Minchin], I love the mornings and I love the challenge."
Do you have a story to sell? Get in touch with us at webcelebs@trinitymirror.com or call us direct 0207 29 33033.
