Ross glad to leave BBC on a high

Jonathan Ross worried he would "instrumentally damage" the BBC.

The chatshow host - whose final episode of 'Friday Night with Jonathan Ross' will air tonight - admits he was sad to leave the network after 10 years, but admits he needed to work on something new after the controversy caused by an expletive-filled telephone call he made to TV veteran Andrew Sachs live on the Radio 2 in 2008.

He told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "Genuinely, I love being here. I've said stupid things in the past but it's been great to know the guys were covering my back.

"Never in TV have I felt like that, over the last 10 years it was a lovely place to be. It has been difficult. But if I ever instrumentally damaged the BBC then I would hate myself forever.

"If I had stayed any longer I think the show would have suffered. And I'm glad I'm going out on a high."

Guests on his final episode included David Beckham, Mickey Rourke, Jackie Chan and Roxy Music.

Jonathan has praised them for helping make his send-off an evening he won't forget.

He added: "It's been a fabulous time for me here. I hated that I even got remotely emotional tonight. It's probably better I leave now, on a high.

"The guests on the show were just great. David Beckham has given me his home phone number for my leaving gift, so I can call him whenever I want - in fact, he's asked for the Four Poofs and a Piano to go back to his dressing room to see him!"

Following a year break to focus on writing comic books, Jonathan will move to ITV in 2011 with a new talk show.