AJ Odudu previously revealed her shock after getting sacked from a major TV gig.
The TV presenter has become a staple on screens in recent years. In 2021, she appeared on BBC’s glitzy Strictly Come Dancing, while for the past few years she has co-hosted Big Brother alongside Will Best.
However, it wasn’t always easy for AJ – who is on Sunday Brunch today (September 7) – as she was previously let go from a major telly job.
AJ Odudu says ‘it was so hard’ after being sacked
Back in 2013, AJ bagged her breakthrough job when she was one of the three presenters of the Big Brother after-show, Big Brother’s Bit on the Side on Channel 5.
AJ was joined by Emma Willis and Rylan Clark on the programme. However, just six months later she was sacked and replaced with former Loose Women star Carol McGiffin.
One minute they love you, the next minute they hate you.
Speaking to The Guardian in 2023, AJ said she wasn’t given any explanation about her getting sacked.
“Even now, I’m like: gosh, that was so hard. It was so tough: after years and years of rejection, you finally think you’ve got your big break – and then it turns out it’s not,” she shared.
AJ ‘felt like she lost her mind’
AJ also found the lack of feedback she received hard to digest.
She said: “Everyone deserves to know where they can right some wrongs or just improve.” But for AJ, it felt like “the classic: one minute they love you, the next minute they hate you”.
What’s more, being sacked from Channel 5 coincided with a breakup AJ described as “awful”, with the presenter struggling to get out of bed most days.
She said: “It’s just a lot, mentally, to keep getting up and putting one foot in front of the other – to keep trying, even when you feel like you’ve completely lost your mind.”
AJ also spoke about her heartbreak after being sacked from Channel 5 in an interview with The Times in 2023. She said: “It more than stung. I cried for months, I was so, so upset. I felt, like, ‘gosh, what am I going to do?'”
Watch AJ on Sunday Brunch on Sunday (September 7) at 10am on Channel 4.
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