Jonathan Ross 'honoured' to have worked at BBC

Jonathan Ross has recorded his final chat show for the BBC and said he was "grateful, lucky and honoured" to have worked at the corporation.

He said his 10-year stint presenting Friday Night With Jonathan Ross had been a "remarkable period of his TV career" and he thanked crew and guests.

Guests on his final show include footballer David Beckham.

Ross, who said in January he would not be renewing his BBC contract after 13 years, is to present an ITV chat show.

His Radio 2 show will also come to an end this month.

Recording his show, which will be screened at 2235 BST on BBC One on Friday, Ross thanked all the guests that had appeared on his show, saying "at least 95% of them were great".

He said he had worked with "just about the best crew" in the business.

"Everyone here at the BBC has always been terrific... I've been lucky to work over the 10 years with the most fabulous teams.

"The experience I've had here at the BBC has been a blessed one.

"I've never come in here feeling anything other than grateful, lucky and honoured... so thank you," he said.

As he started the show for the last time, he admitted: "I promised Morrissey I wasn't going to cry."

During the programme, Beckham refused to blame coach Fabio Capello for England's disastrous performance in the World Cup, telling Ross the Italian was "one of the most intelligent and gifted managers in football".

The LA Galaxy midfielder also spoke about his pre-World Cup trip to visit British troops in Afghanistan.

He said he wanted to raise awareness about the "amazing job" they were doing.

"Everybody needs to realise what these guys are doing, we should be really proud.

"A lot of them said they feel like they're forgotten. I said none of you will ever be forgotten - they're doing the most amazing job I've ever witnessed," he said.

Ross will begin his new ITV series, which will air in a peak-time slot, late next year.

His decision to leave the BBC came more than a year after the so-called "Sachsgate" affair, in which Ross and comedian Russell Brand left lewd messages on the answer machine of actor Andrew Sachs.

Ross was suspended for three months over the incident.