This Morning star Craig Doyle feared for his future after being dropped from the BBC after a disastrous time presenting at the Olympics.
Doyle, who moved into sports broadcasting after a successful stint on travel show Holiday, was subject to a newspaper frontpage saying he was “hated in Britain” after coverage of the 2004 Games in Athens. The major sporting event was his first time presenting live for the corporation.
Craig had presented Grandstand previously but admits his performance at the Olympics was “so bad”. He compared the experience to making dinner for your family moments before being catapulted into a kitchen to work as a head chef.
An experience that Craig, 53, could soon get to experience as he takes part in Celebrity Masterchef. He is one of eight semi-finalists who will be seen making lunch for 70 people at the South Downs National Park on BBC One tonight.
And while Craig has now carved out a successful career, having joined ITV Sport for the Champions League coverage and then This Morning after his BBC contract was terminated, he admits he was worried for his future at the time. Speaking to Kate Thornton on the White Wine Question Time podcast last year, Craig felt he probably needed to take his career more slowly.
He said: “It was so bad, the newspapers were so nasty everyday, and I read them. The front page of the Sunday Independent, while I was in Athens said ‘Doyle hated in Britain’.
“I wasn’t very good at it. In fact, one MP apparently tabled a question in Question Time about my suitability for a national broadcaster at the Olympics. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing.
“I probably needed to go a bit slower. I had no self awareness of my position in the TV world, I didn’t know I was a TV person, star or whatever you call it, they think they can just plop you into that position and I wasn’t ready for it.
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“So that was timing that was bad, really bad, and ultimately then the BBC didn’t want to renew my contract and I had three children and had a proper meltdown wondering ‘what am I going to do’ and then I slowly built it back up again doing smaller bits for them.”
At the time of the Olympic coverage in 2004, Labour MP Chris Bryant queried the decision to cast Craig as the host. He said: “Why Craig Doyle? Is this just because he is the best-looking man the BBC could come up with?"
The-then BBC Head of Sport Peter Salmon defended Craig, and said the broadcaster had received “only a dozen complaints about Craig's presenting style”.
Craig meanwhile says he was “so grateful” that ITV gave him a chance to rescue his career. As well as hosting on ITV, Craig has also presented the BT Sport Rugby Union coverage and MotoGP as well as fronting several TV shows in Ireland.
- Celebrity Masterchef continues on BBC One at 8pm.
