In June 2014, Mr Paxman left BBC current affairs programme Newsnight after 25 years as its presenter. When he was announced as the new host in August, almost a year before hell be hitting our screens on the BBC One programme, Rajan described the opportunity to host as dream come true territory. When it was announced this week that Paxman would be stepping down, Samira Ahmed, a fellow BBC presenter, publicly stated that she was unhappy with the application system. Amol Rajan, 39, is a journalist who is currently the BBC's media editor, though he will step down from this position to host University Challenge. If youve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page wed love to hear from you. BBC's media editor Amol Rajan (pictured left) is replacing Jeremy Paxman (pictured right) as the host of University Challenge. Analysis: Amol Rajan, BBC Media Editor And so the mighty Mail titles have been Trumped. ., His exhausting vanity was again evident after his Gates interview had been screened and Twitter went into overdrive with impressive accolades: Fascinating. Sitting with one arm nonchalantly slung behind his seat, his slightly brash, familiar tone may prove to be as distracting as it is disarming., Rajan in an interview with the Daily Mail's Jan Moir in 2021. He will now step down from his Media Editor role andbegin filming early next year and be seen on screen from autumn 2023. Mr Rajan's apology came after his BBC documentary the Princes and The Press is understood to have sparked fury at the Palace, with the Queen said to have been "upset" by the show. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material, visit our Syndication site. During his time at the publication he held a number of roles, including news reporter, columnist, sports reporter and editor of the title's comment section, Independent Voices. The documentary prompted the broadcast of a Christmas carol service led by the Duchess of Cambridge at Westminster Abbey to be moved from the BBC to ITV. Forgive me Im just trying to understand the specific level it would be acceptable for a person such as Amol Rajan to reach. He described the public role of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as a 'total fraud' and called Prince Philip a 'racist buffoon'. The broadcaster confirmed Rajan, 39, would be his replacement and begin filming in 2023. When do we want it? The broadcaster said the Duchess of Sussex had asked it to 'clarify' that she had, in fact, apologised for 'not remembering' asking her former PR chief to help with the controversial royal biography Finding Freedom. But it is a tribute to the business that said burden is shouldered daily by any number of lavishly shameless individuals, across all titles, without exception. True, he tried to be self-effacing when he joined Today, yet he made the story all about himself in what many would describe as an episode of humble-bragging. He was raised in Tooting, south-west London, and, after attending Graveney School, took a gap year to work in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office before going on to read English literature at Downing College, Cambridge. To recap: the BBCs media editor, Rajan, has now been the subject of days of unfavourable press and reported outrage from the royal family for saying that William and Harrys households briefed against each other. He gravitated from being the Corporations first media editor in 2016 to joining the prestige Today presenting team within five years. Id pay my licence fee just for this.; Amazing interview.; Brilliant.; Absolutely brilliant.; Amol Rajan is a tremendous interviewer.. 'It's the best possible antidote to cynicism about young people, allowing millions of us to test our wits against the best minds of a new generation, and annoy and impress our families by barking answers from the sofa.'. A trivial point, perhaps, but one, say some colleagues, wholly in keeping with the character of the man. Rajan also came under fire after he presented a controversial BBC documentary titled The Princes And The Press, which explored William and Harry's relationship with the media. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group. And if the Queen really was ever cross, well, doubtless shell also be feeling much better now. 11 Mar 2021. Rajan launched his media career working on daytime talk show The Wright Stuff, initially as a researcher, around 2006. Amols wearing jeans and a red sweatshirt how things have changed on the Home Service., Then a cocksure Rajan chipped in: Is it called modernisation or something?. documentary about Princes William and Harry. . Amol Rajan [1] (born 4 July 1983) is an Indian-born British journalist and broadcaster who was the BBC 's Media Editor from December 2016 [2] to January 2023, [3] and has been a presenter on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 since 2021. If Harry at moments comes over like a spoilt brat, hes still more sinned against than sinning. He joined The Independent newspaper in 2007 and worked there for several years in various roles, including as a news and sports reporter, columnist and comment editor, before he became editor of the publication in June 2013. To mark the occasion, a special documentary will air on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer on Monday August 29 at 9pm. She is a COLUMNIST, he says, of Platell. I guess the chance to rubbish the BBC for not doing something theyd never dream of doing themselves is simply too tempting to resist but really its just the most extreme hypocrisy, when they have profited handsomely for decades from the very system of covert gossip it touched on. Amol Rajan is the BBC's media editor. Rajan will become only the third person to host the BBC programme, which first aired in 1962 with presenter Bamber Gascoigne. I no longer work on the show, she commented on Twitter. A year before he became editor of The Independent at the age of 29, he used its pages to launch an extraordinary attack on the Royal Family, slating the Duke of Edinburgh as a racist buffoon, the Prince of Wales as scientifically illiterate, and describing the Queens Diamond Jubilee as little more than the industrialisation of mediocrity. When Jeremy Paxman gave up University Challenge last year, Rajan was announced as his replacement. In 2013 he was promoted to editor of The Independent, which, at the age of 29, made him the youngest editor of a broadsheet title in Britain. Partly down to jealousy perhaps, because he has risen so speedily and some of them are slightly puzzled by that. As well as a new host, the set for University Challenge has been modernised, with changes since the previous set, which was in place from 2013 and saw 1,736 contestants compete. Now! The broadcaster had been the host of the BBC show since 1994, making him the longest-serving quizmaster on UK TV. But like the rest of us she is prone to bad moods and bad breath, and doesn't look her best on a hangover. He also praised Paxman saying he will have vast shoes to fill, and that he will dedicate his first Starter for 10 to the former presenter. Perhaps part of the problem apart from the relaxed diction of which Rajan seems so proud is his reportedly uncomfortable relationship with Todays elder statesman Nick Robinson, a former BBC political editor. As Rajan sombrely notes, royal reporting is not scripture, by which he means, I suppose, that it is basically gossip, as delivered by a servant. Very hard to know you're not going to get better. But it is a tribute to the business that said burden is shouldered daily by any number of lavishly shameless individuals, across all titles, without exception. "In reference to very reasonable questions about some foolish commentary from a former life, I want to say I deeply regret it," Rajan wrote on Twitter. 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The Mail in particular has run a number of articles and columns by the likes of Janet Street-Porter, in which he is energetically trashed. This is going to be one of our best series yet.. 'Sometimes you feel awake, sometimes you feel asleep, and how you are today is no guide to how you will be tomorrow. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. MORE : Jeremy Paxman walks red carpet with a cane ahead of being honoured at Broadcasting Press Guild Awards, MORE : Jeremy Paxman, 72, was rushed to hospital twice in 24 hours. Amol Rajan's The Princes and the Press reveals the parasitical sycophancy of royal correspondents The gargoyles on display here only make their weird, semi-necrophilia seem all the more repellent by talking so very earnestly about it. Need to watch some sport, quick. ", The Daily Mail reports in one open letter to William and Kate after they had announced their first pregnancy, Rajan congratulated the couple, but wrote: "Neither of you have a special claim on the glorious city of Cambridge so quit pretending you do.". A man who has applauded the bravery of TERFs is taking over a show with one of the biggest queer/trans representations on TV. Inside the luxury boutique hotel above a wine bar where Jock Zonfrillo spent his final hours - before the Brit is arrested after fatal mid-air collision with another paraglider which sent both men crashing onto a Aristocrats could pay out for Great Famine: Ex-BBC reporter Laura Trevelyan 'would consider' reparations for Do not sell or share my personal information. Rajan has previously been criticised over a number of comments he made about members of the royal family during his time at The Independent. And why. View our online Press Pack. Last year, he sparked anger from the Royal Family over a documentary about Prince William and Harry and their relationship with the media which was criticised as inaccurate - although the BBC defended it. Are you excited for University Challenge to return? However, this is emphatically not to suggest that royal stories are the exclusive province of royal correspondents. Bowing out after 25 years, Mr Paxman presented a Newsnight programme including an interview with then-London mayor Boris Johnson, while they both rode a tandem bicycle. Apologising today, the 38-year-old journalist wrote on Twitter: "In reference to very reasonable questions about some foolish commentary from a former life, I want to say I deeply regret it. Bloody people, he remarked to William and Harry, before catching sight of the BBCs Nicholas Witchell. Rajans first film returned, embarrassingly for the newspapers in question, to the phone-hacking scandal, having bagged an interview with a private eye who claims to have worked for the News of the World when Harry was dating Chelsy Davy. If its who I believe it is, its a bad decision. A BBC spokesperson said: Once journalists join the BBC, they leave past views at the door. The idea that the royal family could claim with any certainty that one or several of their ludicrous retinues HADNT briefed a journalist is absurd. Of course yeah, OK Im gripped. The Daily Mail unearthed a number of Twitter posts from the star between 2010 - 2013, including a joke that he was about to "throw a brick at Kate and Wills". Rajan, who has in the past written openly about his republican views, has been involved in a number of controversies during his time at the corporation. Mr Paxman opened up about his Parkinson's diagnosis last year in a newspaper interview. The BBC was also faced a complaint from The Duchess of Sussex following a segment of a podcast Harry, Meghan And The Media to accompany the BBC2 documentary, in which it said Meghan Markle had apologised for 'misleading' the High Court. He was the editor of the Independent, they must have thought, hell understand, hell listen, hell take me seriously. The gargoyles on display here only make their weird, semi-necrophilia seem all the more repellent by talking so very earnestly about it. The Beeb said: The podcast is still in production", adding it will now be launched as a boxset all at once instead. Pregnant Rihanna looks like a bride in elaborate white dress as she FINALLY Anne Hathaway brings back the Versace safety pin dress at the Met Gala three decades after Liz Hurley Bill's in Vogue! Even before the controversial documentary aired the BBC faced a 'bias' row over selecting Rajan for the role, after it emerged he once called the idea of monarchy 'absurd'. Published: 22:01 BST, 7 February 2023 | Updated: 13:51 BST, 8 February 2023. University Challenge returns to BBC Two and iPlayer later this year. A single exchange on Fridays show explains what I mean. He revealed in May last year that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. He said his doctor had him tested for the incurable condition after seeing him on University Challenge during lockdown. A weekly newsletter helping you fit together the pieces of the global economic slowdown. The New Statesmans weekly environment email on the politics, business and culture of the climate and nature crises - in your inbox every Thursday. She explained on Twitter: I think you should all know: I approached University Challenge myself months ago. The Daily Mail reports in .