An iconic children’s television presenter has claimed he was secretly fired from the BBC.
Michael Underwood, 50, worked at CBBC from 1999 to 2002, before he moved to ITV and worked as a reporter for GMTV.
The 50-year-old, who is now a primary school teacher, has revealed that the decision to leave the broadcaster was not his own.
“I've avoided talking about this for years,” he began: “I didn't wanna go to ITV, I loved working at CBBC. It's where I started out, I had so many friends there, it was fun going into work every single day. Why would I want to leave?”
He explained that a new boss at the company sat him down and told him it was “time to move on”.
“I was gobsmacked. You know when you get really awful or shocking news and you just go blank and space out, that’s what I did cos I was not expecting it at all.”
The Independent has contacted the BBC for comment.
