Adrian Chiles angry over Daybreak axe

Adrian Chiles is ''angry, upset and acutely embarrassed'' about his and co-star Christine Bleakley's axing from 'Daybreak'.

Adrian Chiles is "angry, upset and acutely embarrassed" about being axed from 'Daybreak'.

It was announced yesterday (19.11.11) the 44-year-old presenter and his co-star Christine Bleakley are to leave the ailing ITV morning show, and Adrian is upset "dark forces" made the news public so quickly.

He told The People newspaper: "I'm angry, upset and acutely embarrassed. Myself and Christine were told we would be going in the New Year but we were assured we could go with our dignity intact.

"That's obviously not happened. We were enjoying the show and we thought things were going well. We didn't want to go.

"It was a bolt out of the blue and has come as a big blow to our careers that we've been dumped at this time. Dark forces have leaked it for their own ends and I am mightily unhappy about it."

Adrian and Christine moved together from fronting the BBC's 'The One Show' to launch the breakfast programme on reported £1 million-a-year deals, but it has struggled to achieve ratings beyond 700,000 viewers, half that of their BBC rivals.

Upon finding out the news they will leave the show yesterday (19.11.11) Christine tweeted: "Morning. What a lovely headline to wake up to. My sarcasm comes across in this tweet I hope. X"

Adrian will still front ITV's Champions League football coverage and his Sunday night chat show, while Christine, 30, will take over from Holly Willoughby as co-host of 'Dancing On Ice'.

Both presenters are expected to seek compensation for the sudden ending of their contracts, although it is expected they will face an overall wage cut. ITV is not thought to have chosen replacement presenters for 'Daybreak' yet.