Jon Sopel admits 'the BBC hate me' as he exposes real reason for quitting

Jon Sopel quit the in 2022 after more than three decades at the broadcaster - and now he claims the network "hates" him. Jon started out his career at the BBC way back in 1983, going on to become BBC News 24's chief political correspondent and later the BBC's North America editor. From launching his own shows to landing podcasts, Jon was a familiar face and voice for 39 years.

In 2022 everything changed. After stepping down as North America editor in 2021, he left the network for good in February 2022 and instead signed with LBC for a podcast and radio show alongside . According to Jon, it's proved more successful than anything he did at the BBC.

In a conversation with The Times, he said: "At the BBC there was a view that once you left you'd never do anything significant again. But since we've been doing News Agents, we've found that it really resonates. We've just reached 100 million downloads - about 200,000 listeners per show. So, broadly speaking, we're now beating anything the BBC has to offer.

"Do they hate me there? Look, I have a lot of friends at the BBC, but they do give you a different send-off if you are being made redundant or retiring compared with what you get if you launch a competitive programme. Has the podcast made me wealthy? I'm doing fine, thanks."

Jon also had some cryptic words to say about the best advice he ever received, repeating the Chinese proverb "for when you're frustrated about your career". He said: "If you stand by the riverbank long enough, the body of your enemy will eventually float past."

His real reason for leaving, the star told The Guardian, was "laziness". He said: "There was a laziness [on my part]. Do I want to be outside Downing Street at quarter past 10 on a wet November night, and then doing it all again at six the next morning for the Today programme?

"I had concerns about whether I would be able to do it the way I wanted to do it." He added to the publication that he was "institutionalised" by the BBC, stating: "My daughter pointed out that she's had more employers than I have. It was like the prison doors opened; it took a while to adjust to being on the outside."