Chris Tarrant reveals heartbreaking realisation which saw him quit 50 year television career

Chris Tarrant revealed the real reason he left his 52-year-long television career. In a new interview, the 78-year-old presenter, who is best known for being part of Tiswas between 1974 and 1981, said he "loved what I did" as he reflected on all the iconic shows he was part of.

He presented Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? from its inception in 1998 all the way until 2014 before Jeremy Clarkson took over. In the 2010s, he started moving away from regular TV work and was a contestant in The Magicians and team captain for Show Me the Telly. He was also narrator for World's Busiest Train Station and Intercity 125: The Train That Changed Britain.

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Since the coronavirus pandemic, Chris has rarely been seen on television and he's finally explained why. In a chat with MailOnline, he reflected on his lengthy career and said: "52 years is a long time on air. I loved what I did. I had a really good time.

"But I went to the funerals of five really good mates, who were about the same age as me, and I thought, 'I don’t know how long I’ve got left in life, but I don’t want to spend it locked away in a studio'."

One of the funerals was the Sir Terry Wogan's, the Irish TV and radio broadcaster who passed away in 2016 at the aged of 77.

Chris briefly considered leaving the industry in 2014 after he had a mini-stroke. The stroke resulted in him needing speech therapy.

"I had a lucky escape. I can chat to you now, [my body] is working. But I did have to have speech therapy. It took a while to get everything back. It was scary."

Back in 2020, Chris spoke to The Mirror about stepping down and revealed he didn't need the money and wanted to focus on spending time with his family.

He told us: "I’ve stopped working. Lockdown started to get everything in a bit perspective and I thought, 'I’ve done this thing for 50 years. I don’t need the money'.

"Without sounding silly, why am I still doing this? I’ve done lots of things that I’ve been putting off instead that have been great.

"I went on safari with my two eldest grandkids. [Wife] Jane and I have just come back from Borneo. I’ve just come back from photographing bears in Alaska. Why the hell would I go for work for?"

He also said he "actually doesn't miss it" before revealing: "I had a great time. I’ve had a brilliant life.”

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