Jonathan Ross lands £2m ITV deal as Chiles flounders

TWO FORMER BBC hosts who’ve made the leap to ITV are enjoying contrasting fortunes at the commercial station. Jonathan Ross has just been handed a new £2m contract, according to The Guardian, while Adrian Chiles is having to leave his breakfast show Daybreak along with his co-host Christine Bleakley.

Ross's star is clearly in the ascendant at ITV. The chat show host, who was the BBC's highest-paid presenter before he left over the Sachsgate row, is reported to have signed a new deal to make three more series of the Saturday primetime programme, The Jonathan Ross Show. Guests so far have included Lady Gaga and Jamie Oliver, while Tom Cruise is set to appear on this year's Christmas special.
 
This contrasts with the grim news from the Daily Mail about Chiles and Bleakley, whose Daybreak show has been haemorrhaging viewers since they signed three-year deals last year.

There have been persistent rumours that the hosts would not survive. Pundits blamed the curmudgeonly Chiles and said the chemistry between the two presenters had somehow not survived the move from early evening (on the BBC) to breakfast-time.

In the event, the Mail claims that it was Bleakley that ITV bosses wanted to replace because she "does not have the gravitas when it comes to big news". They wanted to keep Chiles but he did not want to stay without his sidekick.

Both will remain with the commercial channel, with Chiles continuing to present football and Bleakley presenting Dancing on Ice.

Natasha Kaplinsky and Eamonn Holmes are rumoured to have been approached about taking over on Daybreak. ·