Top 30 Career Killing Moments on TV

#30: Jacob Rees-Mogg

His career has been killed, and it WAS broadcast on TV. Rees-Mogg was one of many senior Tories, along with Liz Truss and Penny Mordaunt, who spectacularly lost their seats in 2024, and it just so happened that a documentary crew was filming Rees-Mogg and his family throughout it all. It was all over for him just two episodes into the series, with the rest dedicated to showing him pottering about in his country house not knowing what to do with himself. It all became desperately boring. With his political career annihilated, hes since pivoted to commentary over on GB News. Even this documentary didnt get another series.

#29: Wynne Evans

In 2024, Wynne Evans  better known as Gio Compario  was raked over the coals for groping professional dancer Katya Jones on Strictly. Though the duo were united in saying it was a joke, he was later booted from the live tour after making another joke that he says was misinterpreted. His career has been in freefall since then, even losing his regular radio gig, though in June 2025 he reappeared to try and rehabilitate his image. He talked about how hed been relentlessly harassed by the press, not knowing how to deal with the sudden tabloid intrusion into his life. It seems that this interview has done the trick with the public, but will the work come back? Only time will tell.

#28: David Walliams

His glitzy TV career petered out after he made offensive comments about a contestant while still being recorded on Britains Got Talent, which were brought to the publics attention in 2022. Over two years later and Walliams was ready to make his grand return to TV on the Christmas edition of Would I Lie to You? After bringing a lawsuit against Fremantle for claiming that his BGT sacking had made him so paranoid about things leaking that he lost his ability to be funny, he only went and did something else so outrageously offensive that it immediately leaked. Reports say that he did a Nazi salute in front of the audience and fellow panelists. The BBC says the footage wont be broadcast.

#27: Noel Edmonds

Most of this actually happened as a result of things he said on Twitter, but he was promptly brought onto This Morning to explain himself. According to Edmonds, he hadnt actually said that negative energy causes cancer, even when Holly Willoughby read his tweet back out and it sounded like that was exactly what hed said. Elsewhere, and Noel Edmonds has become unpalatable in other ways, like his constant nimbyism over onshore wind turbines, saying that the wind industry is lobbying for more renewable energy. Its no wonder he got voted off Im a Celeb first, even after ITV spent all that money

#26: James Corden

The shine was coming off James Corden for a long time. As soon as he started doing The Late Late Show and moved his family to LA, people started to get sick of him. Over the years, reports of his rudeness and ego proliferated, culminating in this infamous restaurant incident in 2022. Corden was banned from a restaurant in New York after being cruel to the staff, causing a scandal he was forced to publicly address. But its clear that that was the beginning of the end; hes returned to the UK and had his last hurrah with the finale of Gavin & Stacey, but has become significantly less visible than he used to be.

#25: Stuart Manning

Gino DAcampo got a lot of flak for this, but the ringleader was undoubtedly Hollyoaks star Stuart Manning. Manning was the one who suggested that they should kill one of the wild rats running around the jungle, initially suggesting that they should spit roast it. With Ginos help, they filleted it and cooked it up in the risotto, with ITV later getting fined for animal cruelty by the Australian RSPCA. Since then, though, Stuart Manning has said that work dried up, and that he became known not as an actor, but just as a generic celebrity. He briefly returned to Hollyoaks only to get killed off for good, and thats been about it for years.

#24: Nicola Gill

You cant really work as an undercover, investigative journalist if everybody in the UK knows who you are  which is probably what Cilla was banking on when she exposed Nicola on television. After Nicola successfully won a date, Cilla Black revealed to the entire Blind Date studio  and, subsequently, the entire country  that she was a journalist doing a story for Cosmopolitan. Worse, she had a fiancé, so the date meant even less! While her career as a writer has continued, she was actually betrayed by somebody else at Cosmo, who outed her to a Blind Date producer. Its clear shed never have got another gig going undercover on TV.

#23: Eamonn Holmes

You make one comment about how there needs to be more research done into whether phone signals can cause a virus outbreak, and suddenly, ITVs giving you the sack and youre having to do exposés about how much you hate Phillip Schofield over on GB News. And Eamonns never actually left GB News, eventually getting the gig hosting the channels weekly breakfast show, where nobodys going to fire him for questioning what the mainstream media has to say about things. After a decades-long career at ITV, he burned all his bridges, including the one to his former wife Ruth Langsford. Once a beloved duo, theyre now separated.

#22: Piers Morgan

After being involved in high-profile scandals at both the News of the World and the Daily Mirror, Piers Morgan decided to leave Blighty entirely, going over to the US to host Americas Got Talent. He was a regular on American TV for a while and then, in 2011, got a prestigious evening slot on CNN hosting Piers Morgan Live. It was this, more than anything outrageous hes said or done, that destroyed his career across the pond, because nobody watched Piers Morgan Live. They just didnt want to listen to him wade into debates about gun control having spent most of his life in the UK. And then he ended his mainstream broadcasting career a second time when he quit GMB.

#21: Angus Deayton

It took years for Deayton to reappear on our screens following his departure from Have I Got News For You. Tabloids reported that hed been spotted taking drugs and hiring sex workers, which was the biggest story of the week when it happened in 2002. To his credit, he did try to return as host, but it was determined that hed lost his authority and the BBC dropped him  that was despite most of the public wanting him to stay on. He just about recovered, appearing in some scripted comedies and then landing a hosting gig on Would I Lie to You? But he then got sacked AGAIN after criticising Jimmy Savile in 2007. The BBC didnt like that.

#20: Harold Wilson

Did you know that former Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson had a brief television career? Following his two terms in Number 10 and a long career as Leader of the Labour Party, Wilson decided to try his hand at TV presenting, and headed over to the BBC. In October 1979, Wilson presented two shows of Friday Night, Saturday Morning, with disastrous results. While as a prime minister Wilson accomplished a lot, as a presenter and interviewer, he was dire, asking inane questions and even getting guests to repeat themselves when he appeared not to hear their answers. Presenting television is harder than it looks, and nobody proved that more than Wilson.

#19: Noel Clarke

In 2021, articles began to appear in The Guardian detailing allegations made against Clarke by various women. In all, allegations from 26 individuals were released, and Clarkes career came to a standstill. Episodes of his shows were pulled, series were cancelled, and he was suspended from the BAFTAs. The Met got involved, but later said that the allegations ranging from harassment to Clarke trying to ruin other peoples careers wouldnt be investigated further. Clarke has since mounted a defamation case against The Guardian to the tune of £10 million. Fellow Doctor Who alumni John Barrowman has also seen his work dry up following resurfaced stories of him exposing himself on set, though hes apologised repeatedly.

#18: Jeremy Kyle

To a degree, Jeremy Kyle has made a return to broadcasting in the wake of the 2019 scandal that shocked Britain, though many would prefer he stay off the airwaves for good. After the tragic death of a guest who appeared on his show, Steve Dymond, it was permanently taken off the air. Many said that The Jeremy Kyle Show should have ended years sooner, or perhaps should have never been made at all, and others said Kyle himself should face criminal charges for his part in the incident. But shockingly, in 2022, Kyle made a limited return to television by fronting a show on TalkTV, ranting about the dangers of cancel culture.

#17: Chris Morris

Its only Morriss TV career thats died; he was a satirical titan in the 1990s, creating The Day Today alongside Armando Iannucci, and eventually leading Brass Eye on his own. But, in 2001, the Paedogeddon! special aired, and it was so mind-blowingly controversial that Morriss career in mainstream television essentially ended. Hed later transition into film, making Four Lions, and would also appear in The IT Crowd but, crucially, he didnt write any of The IT Crowd. Its clear that Morriss days as a writer and leading creative in British TV were numbered from the beginning, and his satire is just as biting today as it was when it was new.

#16: Laurence Fox

Time and time again, Fox has embarrassed himself on our TV screens. His descent began years ago, but he had a particularly notable appearance on Question Time in 2020 where he made widely condemned comments about white privilege. Since then, Fox unsuccessfully ran to be mayor of London, got himself sacked from GB News for comments made about journalist Ava Evans, and then found himself arrested in October 2023. This was for conspiring to damage ULEZ cameras in London. Fox hasnt appeared as an actor on television since 2020, and it doesnt look likely hell be back on screens anytime soon.

#15: Jeremy Clarkson

His time at the BBC ended on a sour note when he was embroiled in a producer-punching scandal. The BBC didnt renew Clarksons contract and James May and Richard Hammond walked out with him in solidarity. Theyd go on to make The Grand Tour for Amazon, but in January 2023, Amazon announced it was going to, quote, part ways with Clarkson. Thats despite The Grand Tour and Clarksons Farm both being runaway successes. It all happened because Clarkson made disparaging remarks about the Duchess of Sussex in The Sun. The Grand Tour still has some specials left to come, but Clarkson was found by regulators to have discriminated against Markle.

#14: George Galloway

Like Harold Wilson, George Galloway is best-known as a political figure though, he never got anywhere near Downing Street, and he likely never will, since hes not yet lived down his scandalous appearance on Big Brother. He ended up pretending to be a cat for Coronation Streets Rula Lenska, who encouraged the whole, extremely weird episode. Though by this point Galloway had already been kicked out of the Labour Party, his Big Brother incident surely made him persona non grata all over again, and he was soon kicked out of parliament entirely. Hes gone on to have one controversy after another ever since.

#13: Phillip Schofield

Following months of controversy and speculation, Phillip Schofields long television career ended in 2023 when he stepped down from This Morning. Following his brothers conviction of serious sex offences, Schofield admitted publicly that long-standing rumours about him having an affair with a much younger man were, in fact, true. He said the relationship was, quote, unwise but not illegal, though many still wondered about the uneven power dynamics when the person he had the affair with worked as a runner on This Morning. Schofield and the young man denied the affair to everyone, until it couldnt be hidden anymore, and Schofield has now completely disappeared from broadcasting.

#12: Prince Andrew

If you can call being born into the royal family a career, Prince Andrew certainly destroyed his during this appearance on Newsnight. He was interviewed for the long special by Emily Maitlis, about allegations he was involved with Jeffrey Epsteins trafficking operation, made by one of Epsteins victims, Virginia Giuffre. The Duke of York purportedly thought hed done a good job in the interview, but when it aired, it turned out hed done more damage to the royal family than anybody else in recent memory. His stories about going to Pizza Express in Woking and a bizarre claim that hes been unable to sweat since the Falklands will haunt him forever.

#11: Michael Barrymore

In 2001, a man named Stuart Lubbock was found unconscious in the swimming pool of TV star Michael Barrymores home. He later died and initial investigations determined that Lubbock was likely a victim of foul play. Barrymore and his other guests were interviewed by police numerous times, but nobody was ever charged. Lubbocks death remains unsolved, but Barrymore has rarely appeared on TV since. Other people involved at the time say they believe a cover-up has happened, and the investigation has been closed and reopened many times. As recently as 2021, a man was arrested, but was released without charge. Barrymores consistently failed to resurrect his dead career.

#10: Teddy Sinclair/Natalia Kills/Verbalicious

In the five years since her outburst on The X Factor in New Zealand during the short-lived shows second season, Teddy Sinclair has become a household name in the UK. Oh, wait sorry, her alter ego Natalia Kills has. No? What about Verbalicious? Her neither. Ok, so British rock singer Teddy-Natalia-Verba-Sinclair-Kills-Icious, is not particularly well-known in the UK, and thats probably because she has a career in New Zealandor at least had, before she ripped contestant Joe Irvine apart because he looked a little like her husband, during the X-Factors first live show. Sacked the next day, the pair claimed they were told to amp up the drama, although were not convinced that was quite what was intended by show bosses...

#9: Derek Acorah

The late, extravagant ex-footballer-turned medium (although were using that term very lightly here) makes it to this list thanks to his involvement with the Most Haunted television series. The show, where Acorah was the resident medium speaking (again using the term lightly) to the long dead, was watched with raised eyebrows as he convulsed, talked in strange accents but showed accurate knowledge of events that he was told by the spirits who possessed him. That was until show producers smelled a rat, and fed him false historical information about made-up people which he somehow became possessed by on-air. His take-over by Kreed Kafer (an anagram of Derek Faker) meant the only dead thing Acorah would interact with from then on, was his career.

#8: Kerry Katona

This was a really tough entryto be completely honestbecause were not convinced of who was really responsible for the demise of Katonas career. Nor do we think its a particularly bad thing, given the trajectory of it at the time. When the former Atomic Kitten singer showed up to ITVs This Morning in 2008, slurring her words and unable to focus, surely alarm bells were ringing in producers ears? Nope instead they put her on air for Philip Schofield and Fern Britton to try and speak to. Luckily, it was evident to everyone else that she hadnt laid her addictions to rest as she claimed, killing off her T.V. career for then, and giving her the needed impetus to start overwhen she was healthy.

#7: Shane Richie

We know what youre thinking. But WatchMojo, Shane Richie has a career! Yes he does, but if we were to ask you what he was famous for, you wouldnt say movie star which is what he intended. Instead youd probably say Daz, which killed his movie career. Ok, actually most of you younger viewers would say Alfie Moon, and youd be right, but the last time we checked, Eastenders was a family soap (using the terms lightly, again) and Trafalgar Square is definitely not a movie setting. By his own admission, taking on the Daz adverts in 1995 killed his attempts at a movie career stone dead. A shame really, he could have been the British Tom Cruise Ah want the truth you slag! Ok, maybe not...

#6: Preston

Poor Preston. This one was a classic career suicidesurely he must have known that if you go up against a comedian with the wit of Simon Amstell, it's not going to end well. Nor did it, as Preston found the typical jabs on guests to be excessive, and did a runner from an episode of 'Buzzcocks. The problem for Preston was that the episode arguably got funnier without the Ordinary Boys frontman, as Bill Bailey replaced the singer with an audience member called Ed. You'd have thought his strop would have created some controversy to play off, but we're struggling to remember any Preston appearance (or song) since.

#5: Kim Woodburn

The late Kim Woodburn was the anthropomorphic personification of a forest fire, which is why her name was so incredibly apt. Her original break into TV was on How Clean Is Your House?. Later, the Queen of Clean tore through the jungle during the 2009 edition of Im a Celeb, having her fair share of to-dos. But on Celebrity Big Brother 19 she made enemies left, right and centre, once prompting security intervention. She rarely appeared on TV since, especially after Loose Women made a fool of her. But maybe she didnt mind, since she was very open about CBB paying her a fortune for her time in the house.

#4: Seann Walsh

Comedian Seann Walshs place on this list is based on technicality. After all, the career-killing moment was not really broadcast on T.V., but the aftermath certainly was. Walsh fell prey to the Strictly curse. During the sixteenth series of Strictly Come Dancing, Walsh shared a kiss with dancing partner Katya Jones, despite both being romantically involved with other people. In a drama that was more suited to Eastenders than an extravagant dancing competition, Walsh and Jones were paraded in front of the cameras to publicly apologise. However, rumours circulated, and Walsh has been paying for it ever since.

#3: Gillian McKeith

It is quite surprising that Poo Doctor Gillian McKeith has a career to be honest, as there are a significant number of questions as to whether she even has a PhD. Thats another story though, as its her career as a television presenter that took a nosedive, or rather a swan dive, after her stint on Im a Celeb. After being voted as the participant of the Un-fairground challenge, maybe-doctor McKeith possibly PhD supposedly fainted, forcing the show to go to break and a different celeb to step up. We say supposedly, as the fall was so very graceful I dont know why she thought wed take her seriously, it was her supposed second faint in two days. Her acting wasnt even that good, neither...

#2: David Icke

If we were to say David Ickes name to you, what would you say he was famous for? You could say author, presenter, conspiracy theorist, and even footballer and youd be right. But Icke is probably going to be best remembered for two words: lizard people. His books alleged that world leaders are shape-shifting aliens, which would be great if he was a: a Comedy Science Fiction author, and b: not someone whos also claimed to be the son of a Godhead. Why he would say this in an interview with the late Terry Wogan in 1991, is probably explained in one of his books, so if you fancy a laugh, then have a read. Oh, not Sci-fi and not comedy either... Our bad.

Needs VO redo to correct pronunciation of Icke, same as Ike (rhymes with bike)

#1: Roxanne Pallett

Now what was Roxanne Pallett famous for? After a moment of a puzzled expression and silence, wed have to remind you that she was an actress. Still not sure? She was in Lake Placid 3. No? Devils Tower? What about Wrong Turn 6: Last Resort. Ok, fine, she was in Emmerdale for a bit, but brought controversy to CBB 22 with Pallett alleging that eventual winner Ryan Thomas had punched her repeatedly. Problem is, there are cameras in that house, obviously, and they showed that punchgate was a fabrication vindicating Thomas and K.Oing Palletts career. Many would say she reaped what she sowed, but we were really looking forward to Wrong Turn 7: Easily Proven Falsehood.

Let us know which stars with dead careers weve forgotten in the comments.