Jonathan Ross is glad to be leaving the BBC, and has dismissed the scandal over the prank phone calls to Andrew Sachs as a laughable farce blown out of all proportion. Ross, who decided not to renew his contract with the corporation, has told The Guardian newspaper that he felt “relief” after making the decision to leave, and noting that the BBC is not the place it once was, with management terrified of the tabloids.
“The whole place has changed quite dramatically,” he says. “The people running it are always trying to second guess what the newspapers will say.” The Andrew Sachs scandal, which forced a public apology out of him and Russell Brand and led to the sacking of both Brand and BBC Radio 2 Controller Lesley Douglas, with Ross himself subsequently suspended without pay for three months, is also mentioned in the new interview, with Ross now revealing what he really thought of the whole mess. “Just silly”, is how he sums it up. “It was literally within about four days of the whole thing kicking off that I just thought, “You know what, there’s no way I can control this”. It was weird watching people get themselves into a lather over something so intrinsically unimportant.”
Ross’ contract with the BBC ends in July, though he claims to have had “firm offers” from other broadcasters and will continue hosting various BBC specials, including the annual Comic Relief telethon and the BAFTA film awards.
