GB News host Eamonn Holmes, 63, hit out at the BBC following several presenter shake-ups at Radio 2 in recent months. The journalist claimed age led to the broadcaster making big changes, after Ken Bruce, 72, and Steve Wright, 68, left their popular shows, before being replaced by younger hosts.
Ken is set to be replaced by Vernon Kay, 48, while Steve’s slot on Radio 2 was filled by former BBC Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills, 49.
Eamonn weighed in on the situation while speaking to Loose Women’s Kaye Adams, 60, and Karen MacKenzie on their How To Be 60 Podcast.
The star was quizzed by Kaye on how he feels about youth being prioritised in the TV industry.
He replied: “I see myself as top of my game.
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“I’ve got all my faculties, so I can’t really see why someone would dismiss your experience, or not want to benefit from your experience.”
Eamonn then made a direct swipe at the BBC for their “laughable” schedule changes at Radio 2, which have also been criticised by regular listeners.
“I do think in our industry – this is laughable – this obsession that television has with youth, and the BBC recently getting rid of people in pursuit of this audience that doesn’t exist.
“The fact that young people are going to listen to Radio 2 is completely laughable anyway.
“So they pursue an audience that doesn’t exist for them by getting rid of people who are really good at what they do,” Eamonn claimed.
Express.co.uk has contacted representatives for the BBC for comment.
Eamonn went on to cite his own experiences with the BBC.
The former This Morning presenter fronted The Eamonn Holmes Show on Radio 5 Live every Saturday morning for six years from 2003.
However, Eamonn claimed that despite his listening figures being “very good”, his boss decided to pull his slot because he was “attracting the wrong people” – older people.
He recalled on the podcast: “I remember being in my early fifties and being got rid of by Radio 5, because my figures were very good on a Saturday morning and everything was excellent.
“But the boss man brought me out for lunch and basically said, ‘Your figures are brilliant, but they are attracting the wrong kind of people, you are attracting older people and we don’t want that’.
“So I went, ‘Oh fine’. We lasted the first course, which was soup, and then I basically told him to f**k off and that was the end of that.”
Eamonn’s contract was not renewed by the BBC in 2009 and his Saturday morning slot was filled by Danny Baker.
It comes after the presenter, who is married to fellow TV star Ruth Langsford, shared his concerns about being viewed differently and “like an old person” after undergoing surgery.
Eamonn had been suffering from chronic pain due to two bulging disks in his back, but feared being “judged” due to being on crutches to help his recovery.
He told Express.co.uk in an exclusive interview: “For 18 months being on crutches, and everywhere you go, you are judged by the fact you are on a crutch.”
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