Children's television presenter Michael Underwood has shared that he was quietly axed from the BBC. The 50-year-old worked for CBBC from 1999 to 2002, before making the move to ITV as a showbiz reporter on GMTV.

Recently, he has been unloading about his past on TikTok, after quitting showbiz completely for a role in teaching. In a new video, he responded to a fan's question, who asked him: "Talk about how you went to ITV," to which he replied underneath: "I've avoided talking about this for years." Michael began: "I didn't wanna go to ITV, I loved working at CBBC. It's where I started out, I had so many friends there, it was fun going into work every single day. Why would I want to leave? But here's the thing – we had two bosses, there was boss in charge of the presenters and a boss in charge of the whole channel.

"Now the presenter boss changed and he wanted meetings with all of the presenters, which wasn't unusual. Also I was close to a contract renewal. That's normally when they call you in, talk about more money, more responsibility, that type of thing.

"So I went in for my meeting, sat down and this is how it went, 'Michael, you're just coming up to your three years at CBBC, I think you've had a great run up till this point but now it's time for you to move on'."

Opening up about his genuine feelings regarding the matter, he told his TikTok followers: "I was gobsmacked. You know when you get really awful or shocking news and you just go blank and space out, that's what I did cos I was not expecting it at all.

"I don't even remember what I said, I couldn't tell you what I said after I heard that. I just remember getting up, walking out of the office and thinking, 'I've just been fired'."

He went on to recall heading upstairs to speak with his senior manager, who claimed to have been completely unaware of what had transpired.

Michael then made his way downstairs and broke the news to his now-wife Angellica Bell, who advised him that if the BBC no longer wanted him, ITV would.

"They offered twice the money plus three new shows guaranteed, which is an amazing offer but I wanted to stay at CBBC," the Dancing On Ice star revealed.

Nevertheless, he claimed that the very BBC boss who had sacked him subsequently called him back in after Christmas, putting a new year-long contract on the table.

Unwilling to risk a repeat of the same situation, he opted to move on and accepted the position at ITV, where he was handed the chance to front CITV's Jungle Run.

Express.co.uk have contacted the BBC for comment.