Jason Manford made his One Show debut in August Comedian Jason Manford has quit as co-presenter of The One Show, four months after taking on the role.
In a statement he said: “I have decided after careful consideration to step down from The One Show to concentrate on my family and tour commitments”.
The married star told The Sun newspaper he had been “flirting” with people online, and some had gone “too far”.
“We have got nothing to say except that we accept Jason’s decision,” the BBC said in a statement.
“I can see now that what started out as a bit of messing about and having a laugh on Twitter has been misjudged and I’d like to apologise to anyone that this has offended as that was the last thing I ever intended to do,” Manford said.
The comic has twin daughters with his wife Catherine, who is currently pregnant with his third child.
He told the newspaper that although she was “disappointed” by his behaviour, they had not split up.
In May it was announced Manford would replace Adrian Chiles, who had defected to ITV to present the channel’s new breakfast show Daybreak.
At the time he said he was “thrilled” to be joining the team.
He was later joined by Welsh TV presenter Alex Jones once it was announced that Christine Bleakley was also leaving the flagship show.
Both presenters made their debut together in August and received mixed reviews from critics.
A month later Manford publicly criticised his new employers, after the BBC edited out a joke he made during a charity concert.
He complained on Twitter that his gag had been missed out of the Help For Heroes concert that he hosted, that was broadcast on BBC One.
In Manford’s original message via Twitter he had complained about a lack of free speech.
When challenged by fellow Twitter users about remaining impartial, he said: “I’m a presenter in a magazine show, not a news show or a journalistic show, I’m a comedian at an event with an opinion.”
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