Radio 4’s Eddie Mair ends more than 30 years at the BBC by calling in sick for his last show, ensuring he leaves with ‘no fuss or faff’
- Eddie Mair, 52, explained he had caught a 48-hour bug before his last show
- He wrote: ‘I seem to have picked up one of those 48 hour bugs. Atishoo’
- Announcement comes amid claims he refused to take a pay cut by the BBC
Eddie Mair (pictured above) ended his tenure at the BBC by calling in sick for his last show scheduled for Friday
He has spent the last three decades at the BBC.
But Radio 4’s Eddie Mair ended his tenure at the corporation in a less than ceremonious fashion, after calling in sick for his last show.
In an email to colleagues yesterday, the PM presenter explained he had caught a 48-hour bug. His last show had been scheduled for Friday.
He wrote: ‘I’m sorry I’m not in the office today as planned. I seem to have picked up one of those 48 hour bugs. Atishoo.’
Mair, 52, did not tell listeners that Wednesday’s programme would be his last, before his move to LBC in September.
Writing to BBC staff, he said: ‘No fuss or faff, just as I wanted. Genuinely unplanned, and with its origins in a listener idea. Perfect. Or as close to perfect as we’re likely to get.’
Mair announced he was leaving the BBC at the start of the month, amid claims he had refused to take a pay cut.
He was raking in between £300,000 and £349,999 a year, and had not yet come to a formal agreement with the BBC about his wage being reduced.
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But the broadcaster hit back at reports that he is leaving the BBC after refusing to take a pay cut, claiming his departure has nothing to do with money.
Writing in the Radio Times in July, Mair says it ‘tickled’ him to learn that he was ‘apparently refusing’ to reduce his own salary.
‘None of my thinking has been influenced by the BBC’s pay problems,’ he says. ‘I’d offered, in writing, to take a cut.’
It has been 31 years since the 52-year-old joined the BBC and 25 years since he first presented PM. In an email to colleagues yesterday, the PM presenter explained he had caught a 48-hour bug. He wrote: ‘I seem to have picked up one of those 48 hour bugs. Atishoo’
Announcing his departure in a light-hearted statement, Mair said he felt it was the right time to leave.
He said: ‘It’s 31 years since I joined the BBC, 25 years since I first presented PM, and 20 since it became my main gig.
‘I thought this was the appropriate moment to step out and give someone else a chance, before I’m so old my sentences make no lasagne.’
But sources say the frustrated star has quit because he believed he would be overlooked as a replacement for David Dimbleby on Question Time – as he thinks the role will go to a woman.
In his self-mocking statement, Mair said whoever took on his role on PM would have ‘the best job in the BBC’.
He added: ‘I realise the BBC will close down without me and there’ll be a run on the pound but I can’t stay in an organisation that refused to let me host Songs Of Praise. I bought a jacket and everything.
‘I’m truly grateful to the BBC, however, for being given more opportunities over the years than I deserved.’
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