Chris Evans 'quits TV' as he makes major career announcement in surprise chat
Chris Evans has appeared to call time on his TV career after nearly 30 years.
The 56-year-old veteran of shows such as TFI Friday and the Big Breakfast has said how his current radio job was his “limit” and that he wanted to enjoy more family time instead.
Asked by a fan if he had any TV plans coming up, the DJ said: “No can do. Family time is everything to me. Radio in the a.m is my limit.”
The star currently hosts the breakfast show on Virgin. His comments would bring to an end an extraordinary television career.
He first came to prominence in the 1990s as co-host of the Channel 4 show The Big Breakfast.
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Evans with his Big Breakfast co-presenters Gaby Roslin and Mark Lamarr, in 1992 (ANL/REX Shutterstock)
The radio personality with his wife Natasha in 2019 (Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)Evans became a prime time star with the game show Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush, made by Ginger Media Group, his own production company.
He also presented the Channel 4 show TFI Friday in 1996, while simultaneously working on the BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show.
He eventually resigned from the latter live on air in 1997 after Radio 1 refused to allow him to work a four-day week.
Evans also presented The One Show on Fridays between 2010 and 2015, and later became the lead host of Top Gear in 2015 after the sacking of Jeremy Clarkson.
Evans presented Top Gear briefly (BBC)However he quit after one series amid poor reviews and weak ratings.
In a tweet announcing his departure, Evans said: “Gave it my best shot but sometimes that’s not enough.”
Ratings for the show had halved, down from 4.3million to just 1.9million viewers.
Before its relaunch, Evans said he would be disappointed if the show had fewer than 5 million viewers.
When it was presented by Clarkson, the programme attracted 8million viewers at its height. Insiders said that Evans had “jumped before he was pushed” after quitting the show.
Evans used to present radio for the BBC before moving to Virgin (Huw John/REX/Shutterstock)Evans is married to wife Natasha Shishmanian, and share four children - Noah, 13, Eli, nine, and three-year-old twins Walt and Boo.
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They tied the knot in Faro, Portugal, in August 2007.
He was previously married to actress Billie Piper, 39, from May 2001 to September 2004.
They got hitched in a ceremony in Las Vegas.
Prior to that, Chris was married to Loose Women star Carol McGiffin, 61, from 1991 to 1994.
The radio DJ with now ex wife Billie Piper in 2004 (PA)Evans has previously said how he has banned his children from having mobile phones.
He explained: ‘Noah is the only kid in his year without a phone. He turned 13 a couple of weeks ago so we discussed it, and got him a device and let him download Whatsapp. But then immediately something happened — there was a bump in the road — and he came off it. It’s like stopping drinking. You can always start again but you can never undrink what you’ve drunk.
‘Noah is different, and a better conversationalist for it. If you’re not on the phone as a kid, you’re a more present kid.’
He added that he felt children learned better from books than on their phones and that he was ‘happier without’.
The DJ also has a daughter Jade, 34, with his former fiancée Alison Ward.
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