Johnny Vaughan on his Global exit and Olympic show for Absolute Radio

Johnny Vaughan, the television and radio broadcaster who dramatically walked out of his Global Radio breakfast show in November, tells us why he left so abruptly and talks about his upcoming Olympic Show for Absolute Radio.

Vaughan will be hosting an Olympic drive-time show from Hyde Park every day during London 2012, which will recap on the major events of the day with a yet to be announced female co-host.

Vaughan said: "We are reflecting the true spirit of the Olympics, that’s the whole point of it. We are at the BT place in Hyde Park, with all the concerts and all of the events happening there."

The arrival of one of the UK's most listened to radio personalities during such a key national moment is a coup for Absolute, the commercial broadcaster often credited with driving industry innovation.

Talking in detail for the first time since he dramatically walked out of his near £1m a year job presenting the breakfast show on Capital FM, Vaughan was decidedly philosophical.

Having spent nearly eights years with the show for Global Radio, Vaughan left on 18 November 2011 after being told by Richard Park, director of broadcasting, that his two-year contract was not going to be renewed and deciding he did not want to serve out his notice.

The 45-year-old said: "If you’re gonna go, go. It's Global’s most powerful brand, and if you look at me, I’m not necessarily the face of hit radio. They have events coming up, they have their jingle bell balls, the things that they do. They want to crack on with the future as soon as possible.

"There’s no time to hang around with some guy who everyone knows isn't going to continue. What’s the point in playing it out? You don’t want every morning to be a farewell show."

Vaughan left the Capital FM breakfast show with the commercial show commanding its biggest audience, attracting 1.32 million listeners in the final quarter of 2011, up from 1.32 million in the previous quarter and 1.08 million in same period a year earlier.

Follow Arif Durrani on Twitter  / Follow Georgina Brazier

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