Sue Barker: BBC could have handled my Question of Sport exit better

Sue Barker said she "regrets" the manner her departure was handled

Sue Barker has said the BBC could have "handled better" her departure as host of game show Question of Sport.

Barker presented the quiz programme for 24 years but departed in 2020 when the BBC decided to rebrand the show.

It later replaced her with Paddy McGuinness, with long-standing captains Matt Dawson and Phil Tufnell also axed.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Barker suggested the corporation wanted her to say she was stepping back by her own choice, rather than being replaced.

The 66-year-old former professional tennis player, who has just released her autobiography Calling the Shots, said: "They [BBC] wanted to refresh the programme and that's absolutely fine.

"So we knew it was going to happen and it was just the way in which it happened and the way it was handled, and the way I think the BBC wanted me to say that I was walking away from it.

"And yet, I'd never walk away from a job I loved. I didn't mind being replaced. Absolutely fine. That happens. But it was just the way it was handled.

"I think if we look back on it we could have handled it better. I think the BBC could have handled it better."

In her book, Barker said she "point-blank refused" to put her name to a statement the BBC drew up for her claiming she decided to step aside. She wrote the experience left her "slightly damaged".

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She said she felt "astounded" after she was asked to announce her departure from the show.

"Was that because I was too old or not good enough? Either way, it was insulting. Did they actually expect me to sack myself?" she wrote.

At the time of leaving the show, Barker said she was "sad to say goodbye" to her dream job, but she understood why the BBC wanted to take the show in a new direction.

A BBC spokeswoman thanked the presenter for her "enormous contribution" as A Question of Sport's longest-reigning host, adding that she and the captains ensured the show remained a "firm favourite" with audiences.

Barker, who joined the BBC One programme in 1997, was only the third host after David Vine and David Coleman since the show first broadcast in 1970.

Reflecting on her departure in her interview on Breakfast, the 1976 French Open champion said: "It's just such a shame because I loved it.

"And I don't look back on it badly just because of a couple of bad days and then some negative publicity, which I think affected quite a lot of people."

Sue Barker spent more than a decade of her time on Question of Sport working with Matt Dawson and Phil Tufnell

The world's longest running TV sport quiz sees big names put their sporting knowledge to the test.

Ex-England rugby player Dawson and former England international cricketer Tufnell, who had been on the show for 17 and 13 years respectively, were replaced by ex-hockey player Sam Quek and former rugby union international Ugo Monye.

In July, Barker also announced her retirement from presenting coverage of Wimbledon.

She added "she was absolutely blown away" by the send-off she received while presenting the tournament for the last time.

The decision brought to an end Barker's 30-year career at the BBC in which she had also presented the Olympic Games and Sports Personality of the Year.

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