Eamonn Holmes criticized the BBC for being “youth obsessed” and said that he told ex-bosses to “f*** off” when they complained that he drew too many elderly listeners.
The 63-year-old TV host was fired by Radio 5 in 2009 for “attracting the wrong sort of individuals.”
It’s difficult to be a white man in his 60s, without a question, Holmes said on the How To Be 60 podcast with Kay Adams.
Nobody is interested in casting you, developing a show around you, or learning about your experience. You don’t fit their expectations in terms of your sexual orientation or race.
‘When it comes to options, you’re at the bottom of the list. When I read statements like “Eamonn is a man, pallid, and stale,” I question what they are referring to. I think I’m at the top of my game.
“This preoccupation television has with kids is ludicrous in our field,” he said.
The host said that in 2009, a BBC Radio Live executive took him out to lunch and complained that he was drawing too many elderly listeners.
We made it through the first course, at which point I essentially told him to f*** off, and that put a stop to things, he claimed.
“I’d work till I was in my 70s.” I believe I have a lot to offer since I keep up with global happenings. I don’t believe I am an outdated relic.
According to Holmes, the BBC’s ageism problems are highlighted by the choice of Radio 2 great Ken Bruce, 72, to leave the organization in addition to Steve Wright, Paul O’Grady, and Vanessa Feltz.
Two years after Alison Hammond, 48, and Dermot O’Leary, 49, replaced him and his wife Ruth Langsford on ITV’s This Morning, the 63-year-old host of Breakfast with Eammon and Isabel on GB News said.
After allegations that Ken Bruce turned down a contract and left Radio 2 because of the “apparently ever-younger DJs” executives brought in and its “edgier” programming, Vanessa Feltz, 60, accused the BBC of “ageism” last month.
The well-known broadcaster, who has worked for the company for 45 years and hosted the mid-morning program for 31 years, is leaving the organization next month and moving his popular PopMaster quiz to Greatest Hits Radio.
When Ken’s contract expires in March, listeners have promised never to again tune in to Radio 2.
Yet since another of the BBC’s greatest performers from decades past departed, the organization is itself at the center of yet another ageism controversy.
Ms. Feltz said that after turning 60, the Beeb let her go.
The music isn’t as enticing since they modified it to cater to a younger demographic they’re so keen to obtain, she claimed, adding that older presenters are “not respected in the same way.”
On ITV’s This Morning, she said, “Think of all the individuals who have left: Paul O’Grady has left. I’ve left. Yet, Steve Wright is hardly present. Chris Evans is gone now. Also, Graham Norton.
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