Jonathan Ross defended the reportedlly whopping salary £6 million salary he received at BBC and even went as far as saying he had “turned down millions” to stay with the corporation.
"Sure I was paid a lot of money, but I'm not in a regular job," Ross told 5 live today.
"I'm in show business and I was at the top of my game."
The 50-year-old left the BBC after the now notorious "Sachsgate" affair, in which Ross and stand up comic Russell Brand left messages on the answer machine of actor Andrew Sachs about his granddaughter, whom Brand had dated. The scandal attracted much attention to Ross’s then salary.
"When the money became such a big story in the papers, I didn't enjoy the scrutiny," he said.
"I didn't think it was fair because I turned down a much bigger offer to go outside than stay at the BBC."
"So I felt odd I was painted as this greedy guy when in actual fact, I turned down millions to stay there."
Ross who was with the BBC for 13 years has since signed up for a new chat show at ITV.
The show entitled The Jonathan Ross Show begins on ITV on Saturday.
