Comedian Matt Richardson has taken a swipe at Chris Evans, reigniting his attack on the broadcaster.
In 2019, Chris, 60, joined Virgin Radio to host the breakfast show, which ultimately resulted in a huge shake-up, and Matt, 35, losing his drivetime radio show.
Their relationship turned sour, with Matt blaming Chris for losing his job.
In a fresh dig on Thursday, Matt said that after working with Chris, he does not condone anything he does and thinks the radio DJ ‘should retire’.
In a TikTok clip, Matt spoke about Chris hosting Channel 4 show TFI Friday Unplugged, a modern revival of the iconic 1990s show TFI Friday.
‘TFI is back again. It’s not the same in any way, and I’ve now worked with Chris Evans and I don’t condone anything he does, and he should just retire,’ Matt said.
Comedian Matt Richardson has taken another swipe at Chris Evans
In 2019, the broadcaster, 60, joined Virgin Radio to host the breakfast show, which ultimately resulted in a huge shake-up, and Matt, 35, losing his drivetime radio show
The bad blood began when Chris’ Virgin Radio show launched on January 21, 2019.
Matt departed just six months later in July and was replaced by Kate Lawler.
The comedian has since said that the fallout and losing his job led him to a dark period and excessive drinking.
Matt evidently has no bad feelings towards Kate, 46, with the pair still following each other on Instagram, and at the time, he said he was ‘delighted to hand the keys over to Kate’.
But the same can’t be said for his relationship with Chris as tension boiled over into the public eye on social media.
‘I did Drive Time for about four years at Virgin Radio, it was all going very well, and then they hired Chris Evans,’ Matt said in a TikTok video at the start of this year.
‘Chris came and the whole station changed and I was doing really well and they really liked me, and overnight they didn’t like me.’
Matt claims that during their very first meeting, Chris said that he had ‘never met anyone who does stand-up and radio well.’
In a fresh dig on Thursday, Matt said that after working with Chris, he does not condone anything he does and thinks he ‘should retire’
Matt added: ‘They didn’t just fire me, they signed me up for another contract but they managed me out. They kept saying, ‘you are not good enough, you need to up your game,’ and during that process I went slightly mad. It was grim.
‘I was drinking too much, I dreaded going into work. It was horrendous.’
Matt’s mother later made him delete some of his online videos about the situation.
Chris has yet to comment publicly on Matt’s claims.
The radio DJ left BBC Radio 2 to rejoin Virgin Radio UK, where he reportedly earns £2 million a year.
He has a colorful history with Virgin Radio, including purchasing the station from Richard Branson for £85 million in 1997. He then sold the radio and television group to the Scottish Media Group (SMG) for £225 million in 2000.
While he continued working at the station, Chris was fired on June 28, 2001, after failing to show up to host his breakfast show for six consecutive days while being publicly spotted drinking with his wife at the time, actress Billie Piper.
In 2023, Chris and his current wife Natasha Shishmanian went sober after he was diagnosed with the early stages of skin cancer.
Chris’ representatives have been contacted for comment.
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