John Whaite blindsides fans by announcing he's quitting TV as Packed Lunch axed
Celebrity chef and Strictly Come Dancing star John Whaite has made the shock announcement that he is quitting TV.
The 34-year-old star first burst into the public spotlight in 2012 when he was a contestant on The Great British Bake Off - which he won. He then attracted even more attention as a contestant on Strictly in 2021 where he was partnered with professional dancer Johannes Radebe - becoming the first ever same-sex male couple to compete on the show.
And since 2020, John has been a regular chef on Channel 4 daytime show Steph’s Packed Lunch. This week, TV fans were devastated when Steph’s Packed Lunch - which is hosted by 41-year-old Steph McGovern - was abruptly axed by Channel 4 with the last ever show set to air in the run up to Christmas.
John says he feels the time is now right for him to retire from the spotlight and he will be quitting TV roles once the show is over. Taking to instagram on Friday, the Bake Off hunk thanked fans who had approached him to check he was ok after his daytime show was cancelled.
John Whaite has announced he's quitting TV (Jed Cullen/Dave Benett/Getty Images)
John recently confessed that fame and his close friendship with Johannes Radebe disrupted his personal life (Getty Images)He said: “Thanks for all the lovely messages. Honestly, I am completely fine. This is the truth. I was going to leave TV this year anyway. That’s why I’ve been off Packed Lunch for a couple of weeks to get my head in the gear and I just came to the conclusion that I think my career in television is now done. I’ve had a great run and loved it.”
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He went on: “I’ll do the odd bit here and there but I need to focus my attention now on business and on my creativity, so that’s where I am. If you’re going to think about anybody and give best wishes to anybody, please think of the Packed Lunch team.”
He also added that the team working behind the scenes of Steph’s Packed Lunch had been “completely blindsided by this” and “they’ve had the rug pulled out from underneath them, which is really, really terrible.”
John has previously hinted that his fame greatly disrupted his private life after he burst into the spotlight after winning Bake Off. He admitted to cheating on fiancé Paul Atkins as the thrill of fame affected his judgement, with: “drunken fondles and experiments with various soap stars and celebrities” after he garnered his fame.
He also confessed to secretly splitting from Paul after he “fell in love” with Johannes after forming a close bond while they competed on Strictly together. However, the couple later reconciled and are building their future together. John told The Sun at the time: "I can't speak for him - because I'm not allowed to, legally - but it felt like there was love there. We had such similar stories growing up - the homophobia, the bullying, coming out, coming to terms with our sexuality - as any queer kid would."
And he added: "I still love Johannes. Of course I do."
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