Sue Barker has broken her silence over her exit from BBC show A Question of Sport.
The TV star worked on the beloved series for more than two decades.
Sue has revealed that the BBC tried to make her lie and claim that leaving was of her own volition.
In her new autobiography serialised in the Mail Online, she said: “After 24 years in the hot seat, I was sacked as the host of A Question Of Sport – and I’m afraid that has left me slightly damaged.
Sue Barker hits back at the BBC
The star admitted she didn’t have a problem with becoming replaced.
She said: “Everyone has their day. Producers must always have the right to refresh a programme and take it in a new direction.”
Sue went on to hit out at the way the BBC reportedly handled her exit.
She added: “It taught me there is actually no way of leaving a role in a nice, pleasant and helpful manner, with your head held high.”
The former professional tennis player began hosting the BBC sports quiz show in 1997 before eventually stepping down in 2021.
Sue said she first learned of the BBC’s wish to axe her in October 2016 when she was on holiday. A colleague found a document that revealed producers wanted to replace her in order to, “refresh the show and appeal to a younger audience”.
The TV star said the Beeb eventually changed their mind.
However, in 2020 she had a meeting and became let go, and later asked to sign a statement claiming she had personally made the choice to leave. Despite their request, Sue refused to lie.
She said: “Why had we been shown so little respect? It wasn’t the ending of an era that stung, but the way it was handled.”
Two weeks before they filmed the final show, Sue said BBC management emailed to say they were “sorry not to have been in touch” which is when “anger set in”.
Read more: Sue Barker reveals Cliff Richard got his friend to dump her for him over the phone
She admitted that the BBC allegedly asking her to “announce that I was leaving for good” felt “insulting”.
ED! has contacted reps for the BBC for comment.
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