Jonathan Ross to quit as TV and radio host with the BBC.

I am really, really sad about this:

Jonathan Ross has announced he is leaving the BBC, after 13 years working for the corporation.

Ross, 49, who is the BBC's highest paid star, said in a statement he had decided not to renegotiate his contract when it ends in July.

The presenter added his decision to leave was not "financially motivated".

In 2008, the controversial host was suspended for making a series of phone calls to actor Andrew Sachs on Russell Brand's Radio 2 show.

Speaking outside his home to reporters, Ross said: "It's probably not a bad time for me to move on - and it's probably not a bad time for the BBC, either. "I've got six months left, I'm hoping to make the best shows of my career with them."

I thought his Friday Night With Jonathan Ross Show was amongst the best of it's genre on British TV. No matter how tricky the guest, no matter how bad the interviewee, Ross always found a way to make his show and their appearance on it entertaining.

The press always objected to how much he got paid, but I always felt that was because he made what he did look easy, when there are actually very few people in TV who could do what he regularly did.

He's obviously far too rich to have to put up with the amount of flak that came from taking his wage from a TV station funded by the license fee, but I honestly think that the loss here is the BBC's rather than his.

Ross will always find gainful employment, but the BBC will find it hard to find a replacement who genuinely makes them feel as cutting edge as he did. Ironically, that is exactly why the papers hated him so much. But, it's why the BBC will miss him much more than he will miss them.

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Tags: Jonathan Ross, BBC, resignation