Jonathan Ross has admitted he was once shocked to discover staff on his TV show were ‘scared’ of him.
Following the conclusion of his BBC One chat show, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, which ran from 2001 until 2010, the comedian and presenter went on to front his series The Jonathan Ross Show, which is still running on ITV.
However, in the early days of his first programme, Jonathan, 63, was told his employees were nervous around him.
Reflecting on that time, the presenter admitted he ‘used to think he could say almost anything’ but was told his staff were worried about being fired after he criticised their work.
‘I’ve grown markedly more aware of the impact words can have whereas when I was younger, I used to think you could say almost anything because they’re just words,’ he said on the Walking the Dog podcast.
‘I also felt like, if I didn’t intend something but you say something as a joke, you kind of thought everyone knew the intention.
‘It was a fairly hard one, a difficult learning curve.’
He continued: ‘I had a bunch of people working on the show years ago and I wasn’t happy with the people they were suggesting as guests.’
However, Jonathan said that he hadn’t realised the fact his words had ‘weight’ due to his position of authority.
‘And so, I’ve become aware of that kind of thing much more. You know, I’ll give an example. I was working on a show a bunch of years ago and I wasn’t happy with guests’ people that were suggesting and I wanted it to be a slightly broader range,’ he recalled.
But after asking his staff to rethink their ideas, he was pulled aside by a colleague who told him: ‘I know what you’re saying and I kind of agree with you, but the way you’re saying it, they’re all scared of you.’
‘I was like, “Why are they scared of me? I’m just another person in the office”. He said, “Because it’s your show, and it’s your company, and you’re saying it and they’re thinking you might fire them”.’
Shocked by those comments, Jonathan said he hadn’t ‘said anything along those lines’ but was told: ‘No, no, but it’s perceived, you’ve let them know you’re dissatisfied with something therefore their next thought is probably, “Oh, f***”.’
‘It hadn’t even occurred to me back then that that would be the way it goes and now it is,’ he continued.
‘Now, even if someone is incredibly incompetent in their job, I will not talk to them publicly about it and I would take them to one side.’
Jonathan then said that society had now changed and with growing older, he had become a ‘much softer character’.
‘Even though I didn’t ever think I was hard in anyway; but I clearly was without realising it,’ he added.
The Jonathan Ross show has aired 21 seasons to date, with the last wrapping up in April this year.
Last year he told Metro.co.uk who he was desperate to interview after having spoken to countless celebrities over the year.
‘I’ve never interviewed anyone in the royal family and at the moment I’m quite glad that’s the case. I don’t want to get involved in other people’s business. I’ve met them all, though,’ he replied.
The Jonathan Ross Show is streaming on ITVX.
Got a story?
If you’ve 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 – we’d love to hear from you.
