Former CBBC presenter Michael Underwood has claimed he was “secretly sacked” from the BBC after a shocking meeting that left him convinced his career at the children’s channel was over.
The TV star, now 50, revealed he never actually wanted to leave CBBC back in 2002 — despite eventually moving to ITV and becoming a celebrity reporter on GMTV.
Speaking candidly during a TikTok Q&A, Michael admitted he had avoided talking about the situation for years before finally opening up about the moment he says everything suddenly changed behind closed doors.
“I didn’t want to go to ITV, I loved working at CBBC,” he explained. “It’s where I started out, I had so many friends there, it was fun going into work every single day. Why would I want to leave?”
Michael, who worked at CBBC from 1999 to 2002 alongside familiar faces including Holly Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern, said he was approaching a contract renewal when a new presenter boss requested a meeting with him.
Expecting a normal discussion about his future at the channel, Michael instead claims he was blindsided.
He recalled the conversation beginning with the words: “Michael, you’re just coming up to your three years at CBBC. I think you’ve had a great run up until this point but now it’s time for you to move on.”
The presenter admitted he was left completely stunned by the unexpected news.
“I was gobsmacked,” he confessed. “You know when you get really awful or shocking news and you just go blank and space out? That’s what I did because I was not expecting it at all.”
Michael said he barely remembers what happened next, adding: “I just remember getting up, walking out of the office and thinking, ‘I’ve just been fired.’”
In an emotional twist, Michael revealed he then went upstairs to speak to another senior BBC boss — only to be told they had no idea the conversation had even happened.
He later shared the news with his now-wife, presenter Angellica Bell, who encouraged him to consider a fresh start elsewhere.
According to Michael, ITV soon came forward with a major offer — including double the salary and three guaranteed new shows.
“They offered twice the money plus three new shows guaranteed, which is an amazing offer, but I wanted to stay at CBBC,” he admitted.
Despite later being offered another one-year BBC contract after Christmas, Michael ultimately decided to walk away and join ITV, where he went on to host Jungle Run and several other programmes.
