Chris Evans has hinted he may not return to television after telling a fan he has reached his ‘limit’ with his breakfast radio show.
The broadcaster, 56 – who co-presented ‘s The
In 1995, Chris landed one of the most sought-after jobs in the industry, the BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show.
But the broadcaster went off the rails amid heavy drinking and resigned live on air in 1997, after Radio 1 refused to meet his demands to work a four-day week.
He returned to the airwaves as the host of Virgin Radio’s breakfast show – and his production company Ginger Media Group also snapped up the station for £85 million.
The DJ hosted the show from 1997 to 2001, when he was sacked for ‘breach of contract’.
He later joined BBC Radio 2 a few years later in 2005 and added more than a million listeners to the Radio 2 breakfast show when he took over from Sir Terry Wogan.
Sir Terry was attracting an average weekly audience of just under 8million before he left the programme in December 2009.
Screen star: The broadcaster co-presented Channel 4’s The Big Breakfast from 1992 to 1994, fronted TFI Friday from 1996 to 2000 and again in 2015, ph88 slot and presented Top Gear in 2016 (Chris is seen with Sir Anthony Peter McCoy on TFI Friday in 2015)
When Chris took over in January 2010, listening figures immediately jumped to 9.5million.
He returned to the airwaves as the host of Virgin Radio’s breakfast show – and his production company Ginger Media Group also snapped up the station for £85 million.
The DJ hosted the show from 1997 to 2001, when he was sacked for ‘breach of contract’.
Taking it easy: When asked if he had any plans to appear on TV again any time soon, he told the devotee: ‘No can do.Family time is everything to me. Radio in the a.m is my limit’ (Chris is seen on TFI Friday with Noel Fielding in 2015)
Larking about: Chris was a regular on Channel 4 in the morning when he co-presented The Big Breakfast (L-R: Paula Yates, Chris, Gaby Roslin, Bob Geldof and Joanna Lumley in 1992)
The star, seen out drinking with teenage girlfriend and later wife Billie Piper, had failed to turn up for a week of breakfast shows.
‘I was an idiot – there’s no point sugar coating it,’ he later said.
but by 2000 the show – once pioneering and cutting edge – had lost its way and viewers deserted it.
Playing up: He first rose to fame as the presenter of Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush, which he fronted for one year on Channel 4 from 1994
Chris
The show failed to take off after Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May left for Amazon.
Viewing figures slumped to just 2.4million viewers, down from 4.3million under the previous presenters.
Radio star: Chris currently hosts the Weekday Breakfast Show on Virgin Radio after returning to the station in January 2019 (Chris pictured on The Big Breakfast in 1992)
Loved-up: Chris married his wife Natasha Shishmanian in 2007, with the couple sharing four children together (pictured in 2019)
Chris defended the show’s performance, calling the new Top Gear ‘a hit’, but still left saying he had given it ‘my best shot, but sometimes that’s not enough’.
He added: ‘I feel like my standing aside is the single best thing I can now do to help the cause.’
Chris married his wife Natasha Shishmanian in 2007, with the couple sharing four children together.
He was previously married to singer and actress Billie Piper from 2001 to 2007 and Loose Women star Carol McGiffin from 1991 to 1998.