I am fat, old and white, it’s only a matter of time before the BBC sack me, says Stephen Fry
TELLY star Stephen Fry fears the BBC will sack him because he’s “old, fat and white”.
The actor, comedian, writer and raconteur says he still enjoys working and doesn't want to retire, despite the fact he turns 65 this summer.
But speaking at the BFI and Radio Times Television Festival at the weekend, the stage and screen veteran revealed his belief the Beeb will show him the door.
Stephen said: "I’m not as old as the BBC but I'm getting there. You know, I wouldn’t be surprised if I was shown a red card.
"I can’t imagine myself stopping because I enjoy it too much. But I can imagine people saying: 'do we really need this fat, old, white bastard?'
"I’d be very upset if I was some great hero of comedy and drama who I sometimes overhear saying, “f***ing BBC, once you get past… don’t they know what I’ve done for them?'"
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Stephen, who's now narrating nature show A Year on Planet Earth on ITV, insisted he was trying not to be bitter about the idea, and could see he would just be making way to give opportunities to younger people.
He added: "I’m of an age that I could retire, so everything that’s coming to me is lucky. I’m happy to still be asked to do things.
"I’m going to Iceland and then a couple of weeks later I’m off to Amsterdam to do a documentary about these remarkable Dutch resistance fighters who were both openly gay in the 1930s when the Germans invaded the Netherlands, they had courage that’s just beyond belief.
"Then I have a couple of things for Netflix coming up. There’s a Neil Gaiman one I’m looking forward to, it’s just a small part in the adaptation of The Sandman.
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"I’m very fortunate and lucky. I don’t mean to sound like I’m ready to settle down but we’re living in a very interesting time, there’s a huge change going on."