4 December 2024
Chris Tarrant has retired from TV - because he "doesn't need the money".
Chris Tarrant retries from TV
The former 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire' host has had a career in showbiz spanning 50 years, but he has called it quits because post-lockdown put "everything in perspective” and he wants to do things he has put off.
He told The Sun newspaper: "I've stopped. After lockdown, you just start to get everything in perspective.
"I thought, 'I've done this thing for 50 years.' I don't need the money, so I was thinking, 'Why am I still doing this?'
"I get asked to do things, there is all sorts of rubbish. 'The Masked Singer'? No thank you!
"I don't miss doing TV. It's nicer when you're not being told where to go, what to do and you know the schedule."
Snubbing TV offers has allowed Chris more time to go travelling with his partner Jane Bird, who he has been with since 2008, and the rest of his family.
The former 'Tiswas' star, 78, added: "I've done lots of things that I've been putting off.
"Last year, I went on safari with my two eldest grandkids.
"My partner Jane and I have just come back from Borneo [an island in Asia], which I've always wanted to do.
"And I was photographing bears in Alaska. So, why the hell would I go to work?
"I've had a brilliant life, and now I just want to be around doing lots of things that I wanted to.
"Hopefully, for a lot longer."
Chris landed his breakthrough presenting role on ‘ATV Today’, and he shot to fame as a co-host on BBC Saturday morning children's show 'Tiswas', which ran from 1974 until 1982.
The star also hosted the 'Capital Breakfast' show on Capital Radio from 1984 to 2004, and he presented 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire' from 1998 to 2014.
He added to the publication: "I still see a lot of my mates, you know, for Capital Radio we do a lunch.
“I probably socialise more with the Capital guys than any actually, but I still see the 'Tiswas' lot, and I still see some of the 'Millionaire' lot.
"But the Capital lot, we had such a brilliant time. We had such a gang.”
English (US) ·