EXCLUSIVE: After Andrew Castle was demoted from the treasured Wimbledon role he held for 25 years, he’d had plenty of job offers but he says it’s ‘not a priority’ for him
Andrew Castle has spoken about his BBC exit (Image: Helen Murray/BBC/PA Wire)
Andrew Castle admits his future on TV is in doubt – even though people are queuing up to offer him work.
Andrew says he has four offers on the table after his shock BBC exit, including two in tennis and two in news and current affairs. The legendary commentator revealed the BBC had removed him from the Wimbledon’s men’s final. The experienced broadcaster subsequently decided to quit.
His availability has turned production bosses’ heads but he says a telly return is the last thing on his mind at the moment. The family man has a third grandchild on the way and the 62-year-old says all his spare time is being taken up after deciding to build his own house.
Asked when we next be seeing – or hearing – him on TV again, he said: “I really don’t know. It’s not a priority for me. I mean, I could come back, I’ve had two really good offers, actually, outside of tennis. Well, I have had two offers within tennis, two outside of tennis on the broadcasting side but at the moment. I’m just going to take it easy.
“I can’t make any decisions at the moment. I’m just trying to build this house and look after the grandchildren that we have for a little bit and be involved in family. It’s been great. As you get older, you want to do slightly less.
“A couple of these job offers are in news and current affairs and it’s just like ‘Oh my God’, it’s a queasy ride for anybody who’s a journalist at the moment. It’s just an extraordinary world to try to make sense of. So, there’s no rush. It’s a privileged position to be that there’s no rush. I know that,” he said, speaking to Betway.
Since 2003, he has been BBC’s lead commentator at Wimbledon but he has chosen to leave after being informed that he would be demoted from the role he held for nearly 25 years. The broadcaster intends to replace him with Andrew Cotter as lead commentator for next year’s tournament
Speaking about his departure, he said: “I was lucky to be put in there in the first place and lucky to do it for as long as I did it. And so I leave really, very grateful.
“That is the truth. Would I have liked to have carried on? Of course I would, but nobody ever knows when you’re going to get that tap on the shoulder and say, “Okay, you’ve had your time,” but, I mean, it’s been absolutely unreal.
“You don’t realise how long 24 years is and you don’t realise how many people, how many good people, you’ve worked with and how many good times you’ve had when you’re concentrating on what you’re doing.
“Obviously leaving on the last day, actually arriving on the last day as well, just going through the same process was, in a way, sad, but in another way, joyous. I had very mixed feelings about it all. I thought we had a pretty good match in the final as well.”
He has other things to keep him busy and added: “We’ve got a third grandchild on the way, we’re building a house and we’re getting it finished. We took the plunge and we’re building a house, so that’s got a few months to run.
“There’s always bits and bobs of work outside of tennis, which I still do.”
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