Disgraceful Jonathan Ross behaviour that threatened to end his career and BBC lifeline
Sachsgate cost Jonathan and the BBC dearlyJonathan Ross is back on our screens in the new series of The Masked Singer this weekend. But one of the UK’s most popular showbiz stars once found himself involved in a scandal so huge that it almost ended his television career.
The presenter, now 65, shot to fame in the late 1980s. And, as well as having his own chat show, Jonathan has gone on to appear in TV favourites including The Celebrity Traitors and The Masked Singer – which returns today (January 3).
However, more than 15 years ago, Jonathan made headlines for all the wrong reasons following his disgraceful behaviour towards TV legend Andrew Sachs on a BBC radio show. The incident was so severe that it saw his pay docked and even threatened to derail his glittering TV career…
Jonathan Ross’ BBC scandal explained
In 2008, Jonathan Ross and disgraced comic Russell Brand found themselves in hot water after they prank-called Fawlty Towers legend Andrew Sachs.
The pair attempted to call Sachs for an interview. But when he didn’t answer, they went on to leave four messages on his answerphone. The vulgar voicemails were about Andrew’s granddaughter, Georgina, who Russell had dated. At the time, she was 20, and he was a decade older than her.
The call was part of a pre-recorded segment on Russell’s BBC Radio 2 show.
What did they say?
The first message saw Russell joke about Fawlty Towers and how both he and Andrew had appeared in The Bill. But Jonathan interrupted in the background to shout out that Russell had “[bleeped] your granddaughter”.
The next messages saw the men try to apologise for what Jonathan had said. But they were not taking it very seriously, as the messages continued to be rude and vulgar.
As the radio show was pre-recorded, questions were asked as to why the messages had been broadcast. Andrew Sachs later confirmed he had not given permission for the offending material to air.
Jonathan Ross offered a ‘full apology’
The incident came to be know as Sachsgate and received more than 18,000 complaints. What’s more, the then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown even called the incident “unacceptable”. Both Jonathan and Russell were suspended and an investigation took place.
At the time, BBC director general Mark Thompson issued a statement and apologised for the incident. He said: “I would like to add my own personal and unreserved apology to Andrew Sachs, his family and to licence fee payers for the completely unacceptable broadcast on BBC Radio 2.”
Jonathan also said it was “a stupid error of judgement on my part” and offered a “full apology”. He was suspended without pay for 12 weeks from all BBC shows.
At the time, he had been hosting his chat show Friday Night With Jonathan Ross. He also had his own BBC Radio 2 show for a number of years. However, following the scandal, that was moved to being pre-recorded 24 hours before it went out.
Meanwhile, Russell Brand issued an apology for making the calls and resigned from Radio 2. The BBC received a £150,000 fine from Ofcom after it aired their comments.
Jonathan Ross quit the BBC after scandal
Two years later, Jonathan announced his exit from BBC. He said in a statement: “Over the last two weeks I have decided not to renegotiate when my current contract comes to an end. I would like to make it perfectly clear that no negotiations ever took place and that my decision is not financially motivated.
“I signed my current contract with the BBC having turned down more lucrative offers from other channels because it was where I wanted to be and – as I have said before – would happily have stayed there for any fee they cared to offer, but there were other considerations.”
Move to ITV
In June 2010, Jonathan revealed he would be moving to ITV to host a new Saturday night chat show, The Jonathan Ross Show. It has been on air ever since, with Jonathan largely absent from main hosting roles on BBC One and Two in the 15 years that followed.
After a brief Radio 2 arts series, a lifeline in the form of Celebrity Traitors came along earlier this year, though, putting Jonathan back on the BBC’s prime-time TV schedule.
Jonathan’s BBC return
Fast forward to 2025, and Jonathan made his return to the BBC when he accepted an offer to appear on the first series of Celebrity Traitors.
A self-confessed fan of the show, Jonathan was joined on the programme by the likes of Alan Carr, Cat Burns, Kate Garraway and Clare Balding. However, he was voted off early when his co-stars managed to work out he was a Traitor.
But despite his brief appearance on the show, it did mark the end of a remarkable 15-year absence from BBC TV screens following Sachsgate.
And, while he still doesn’t have a permanent hosting role on BBC TV, it appears that he’s no longer banished from the Beeb and is now finally back in the corporation’s good books.
Watch Jonathan Ross on The Masked Singer on Saturday (January 3) at 6.30pm on ITV1.
Read more: Favourites to sign up for Celebrity Traitors season 2 revealed
