Sarah-Jane Crawford claims the BBC made her work for "seven days a week, 10 weeks straight".
The 34-year-old presenter left her show on BBC Radio 1Xtra earlier this year following more than six years with the station and has revealed she had to leave because she needed a break.
She exclusively confessed to BANG Showbiz: "It was very full on, and there was one point when I was doing seven days a week, 10 weeks straight. I didn't know whether I was coming or going."
The former 'The Xtra Factor' host has now moved to Los Angeles where she is trying to work on her TV career and hopes it will be more appropriate as she'll be able to have time off.
She continued: "In life it is good to have the yin and the yang. It is nice to go full steam ahead, it is nice to take your foot off the break, and it is nice to leave the country. So, for me, I need a bit of variation."
Meanwhile, she has supported her Radio 1 pal Nick Grimshaw following the harsh criticism he has received during his stint as a judge on 'The X Factor'.
She said: "I was thinking about this last night - I think it is a show that is so big that a lot of people have their opinions of it and I think he is doing a great job, he does not need my help.
"We are both cut from the same cloth, we have come from a similar background: E4, BBC Radio, he is doing his thing, and I think he was doing really well."
Tagged in Nick Grimshaw Sarah-Jane Crawford