Chris Tarrant has revealed the heartbreaking reason he left the TV world after starring on some of the country’s biggest shows for 52 years.
The legendary host, 78, is best known for presenting iconic kids show Tiswas between 1974 and 1981 and quiz series Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? for 16 years.
Tarrant began moving away from regular TV work in the 2010s, quitting Millionaire in 2014 – but he did still present the docuseries Extreme Railway Journeys between 2012 and 2020.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, however, his face has been seen less and less, with his last appearance coming in 2021 documentary Britain Biggest 1970s Hits.
In 2025, Tarrant has now given a detailed but heartbreaking explanation for why he’s now retired from the glitz and glamour of primetime programmes.
Speaking to MailOnline, he reflected on decision to leave it all behind: ’52 years is a long time on air. I loved what I did. I had a really good time.
‘But I went to the funerals of five really good mates, who were about the same age as me, and I thought, “I don’t know how long I’ve got left in life, but I don’t want to spend it locked away in a studio.”‘
One of those friends was the late Sir Terry Wogan, the legendary Irish TV and radio broadcaster who died in 2016 – he was 77, a year younger than Tarrant is now.
Continuing his story, Tarrant said he briefly considered retiring in 2014 after suffering a mini-stroke, which left him needing long-term speech therapy to get back to his best.
‘I had a lucky escape. I can chat to you now, [my body] is working. But I did have to have speech therapy. It took a while to get everything back. It was scary.’
In 2020, he told The Mirror he was stepping down because he no longer needed the money and wanted to spend more time with his family in retirement.
‘I’ve stopped working. Lockdown started to get everything in a bit perspective and I thought, “I’ve done this thing for 50 years. I don’t need the money.”
‘Without sounding silly, why am I still doing this? I’ve done lots of things that I’ve been putting off instead that have been great.’
He continued: ‘I went on safari with my two eldest grandkids. [Wife] Jane and I have just come back from Borneo. I’ve just come back from photographing bears in Alaska. Why the hell would I go for work for?’
Despite publicly announcing his retirement just before Christmas last year, Tarrant revealed that the offers were still coming in from TV producers.
Chris confessed that he ‘turned down’ hosting The Masked Singer and had no further desire to front another travel show as he didn’t want to be told ‘where to go, what to do and, you know, schedules’.
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