I’m A Celebrity: as Chris Moyles takes a break from Radio X breakfast, we reveal why he quit BBC Radio 1 live on air

Chris Moyles is one of the 12 celebrities that has entered the Australian jungle for this year’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here.

The Radio X breakfast host, 48, from Leeds was once the host of the biggest breakfast show in the country, as he woke up the nation on BBC Radio 1 everyday.

Chris Moyles began presenting the show in 2004 and was the host of the show for eight years, making him the longest serving breakfast presenter for the station.

He even beat the record of legendary radio DJ Tony Blackburn, who held the breakfast show role for five years in the early 1970s.

Chris Moyles has faced many controversies during his 30 year career including a warning from OFCOM in 2006 and making inappropriate comments.

Why did Chris Moyles leave Radio 1?

In 2011 Chris Moyles signed a contract with the BBC to ensure he stayed in the breakfast show role until at least 2014, meaning the presenter would celebrate 10 years in the role.

However, in 2012 it was speculated that the BBC were under pressure to find a younger audience for Radio 1, who’s listeners average age was 33.

Rumours began to circle that the station was looking to replace Chris Moyles with a younger presenter to bring the listener age down.

A year after signing his extended contract, Chris Moyles announced he would be stepping down from the breakfast show.

How did Chris Moyles quit Radio 1?

Chris Moyles took to the airwaves of his Radio 1 breakfast show to announce he would be leaving the role.

The radio presenter began by playing some sad music before he told his listeners why he would be stepping down.

On 11 July 2012, Chris Moyles said to his listeners: "I wanted to tell you myself. I didn’t want you to see it in the newspapers or on Twitter.

“A couple more months of us. Then it’s someone else’s turn. Thank you for listening.”

In 2020, Chris Moyles spoke to The Sun about leaving Radio 1 calling the station a “conveyor belt”.

He added: “at some time you will fall off it, because of age or not being relevant anymore.

“The story goes, I was too old for the show. I was 38 when they took us off. They recently hired some DJs who were that age. The show is yours for a while - it is like renting a house for a bit.”

Chris Moyles was critical of the way the station handled his departure, telling Ross Kemp on his podcast, The Kempcast: “I was a bit miffed that the story that went out was that I was too old and I had god fired.

“I wasn’t going to be doing that show forever. I thought they handled it really badly.”

Who replaced Chris Moyles on the Radio 1 breakfast show?

Chris Moyles was replaced by Nick Grimshaw who went on to hold the breakfast slot until 2018.

Following the announcement that the presenter would be replaced by Nick Grimshaw, Chris Moyles’ team pranked the new host by having him on the show as a guest.

Halfway through the interview, the entire crew left the studio, leaving Nick Grimshaw on air repeating “this is so cruel”.

Chris Moyles told The Kempcast about his reaction to Nick Grimshaw’s drop in listening figures after he left the station, saying: “Then when [Grimshaw’s] show failed and the listening figures fell, I was like, ‘Not that f***ing easy, is it boys?’

“Not aimed at Nick but at Radio 1 in general. The show lost a million-and-a-half almost overnight. They didn’t get them back.”