Des Lynam quit 'Countdown' because he was bored.
Des Lynam
In 2005, the 77-year-old presenter joined Carol Vorderman on 'Countdown' following the death of Richard Whiteley but he quit after just one year because he didn't have enough to do.
Des said at the time that travelling from West Sussex to Leeds to film was too tiring but he has now admitted to the Daily Mirror newspaper: "In truth, I just got so bored doing it. We'd record five shows a day but, as the host, I didn't have enough to do. I thought 'I can't do this for another two years, it will kill me.'"
And he insisted he has no plans to return to TV, explaining: "I think I'm out of it now. I don't want to frighten children. When I do FaceTime with my two grandchildren they think 'who's that old geezer?'"
Des has been keeping fit by doing Pilates with his wife Rose Diamond and he also revealed that she forbid him to shave off his famous moustache.
He said: "Rose got me doing Pilates. I used to believe Henry Ford's theory that 'exercise is bunk' - but now I discipline myself to do my physical jerks because, at 77, bits of you start dropping off.
"Well, I wanted to shave the moustache off because it's gone totally white now. Then Rose said: 'Don't you dare - people won't recognise you'."