Danny Baker’s career from BBC Radio 5 Live to ITV as he is fired over ‘racist’ royal baby tweet

Danny Baker has been fired from the BBC after a tweet in which he seemingly compared royal baby Archie Harrison to a monkey.

The 61-year-old broadcaster caused controversy with the tweet, which featured a picture of a couple leaving a hospital holding hands with a chimpazee, captioned: ‘Royal baby leaving hospital’ – just hours after Meghan Markle and Prince Harry introduced their newborn to the world.

Danny, who has since deleted the tweet and insisted he didn’t have any racist intent, has confirmed news of his sacking via Twitter.

He said: ‘Just got fired from @bbc5live. For the record – it was red sauce. Always.’

Radio 5 Live controller Jonathan Wall told all staff in an email: ‘Danny made a serious error of judgment on social media last night and it goes against the values we live and breathe on this station.’

Here’s what you need to know about the presenter’s career.

Where did Danny Baker’s career start?

Baker began his career as a print journalist, working for the NME before moving to London Weekend Television in 1980 as the presenter of a regional show, Twentieth Century Box, which was produced by Janet Street Porter and looked at youth culture in London.

He found fame as roving reporter on The Six O’Clock Show, which ran on London Weekend Television from 1982-1988 – and was a regular face on the channel throughout the 80s and early 90s.

Baker also worked as a writer for TV shows including TV Hell and TFI Friday – as well as the 2016 series of Top Gear hosted by Chris Evans – as well as appearing in front of the camera on the likes of Win, Lose Or Draw, Pets Win Prizes and on his own BBC chat show Danny Baker After All.

He was also famously the face of the Daz Doorstep Challenge washing powder ads in the 90s.

More recently he’s made appearances on a string of TV shows including Have I Got News For You, Shooting Stars, Room 101 and QI – becoming the first ever winner of that show.

His other appearances include the 2016 series of I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here – which he joined as a late arrival along with Homes Under The Hammer’s Martin Roberts – only to become the first celebrity voted out of the jungle.

When did Danny Baker join Five Live?

Baker joined the station when it launched in 1990, initially presenting Sportscall before moving on to the football-related phone-in show 606 and the show Morning Edition, which blended trivia and music.

He was at Radio 1 from 1993-1996, hosting a weekend show – and fronted the GLR Radio show Baker and Kelly Upfront alongside journalist Danny Kelly.

He also fronted midweek Five Live show The Baker Line – a version of the 606 phone-in show – but this led to him being sacked from Five Live in 1997 after it was alleged he had incited threatening behaviour during an outburst about a football referee.

Since then he’s worked for Talk Radio and Virgin Radio fronting football shows, returning to BBC London in 2001 to present a Saturday morning show – and ended up hosting a variety of shows for the station until his show was axed in November 2012.

He announced the end of that show live on air, saying: ‘The show’s been cancelled by the BBC. They don’t want this any more.

‘It’s a dirty rotten shame and a rotten way they did it. Nobody phoned me. Apparently they were planning on getting round to telling me. I don’t want to go, I make no bones about it.’

Baker later criticised the decision on Twitter, saying: ‘We dwell amid pinheaded weasels who know only timid, the generic and the abacus.’

It wasn’t the end of his time at the BBC though, as he returned in a Saturday morning slot on Five Live, winning several Sony Radio Awards along the way.

His Saturday show included such features as the Sausage Sandwich Game – which he referenced in the tweet confirming his sacking – which saw contestants having to correctly answer questions about a celebrity guest, including whether they would have red sauce, brown sauce or no sauce on a sausage sandwich.