Rita Ora's move from The Voice to The X Factor isn't the first time a TV star has jumped ship
After winning hearts as a judge on BBC One's The Voice, Rita Ora has jumped ship to its competitor, X Factor. The ITV show has also poached famous BBC face – or rather voice – Nick Grimshaw, who hosts the prestigious Radio 1 Breakfast slot. While Grimmy will fulfill his judging duties alongside his BBC role, Ora's may come as a blow to BBC producers. But this isn't the first time stars have jumped ship. Here are a few of the most famous and most surprising moves.
1. Susanna Reid
Not long after declaring the BBC ran through her "like a stick of rock", the breakfast presenter dominated headlines in 2014 after defecting from her long-standing post presenting BBC Breakfast to host ITV's new rival show Good Morning Britain. It seems there were no hard feelings though as she returned to her former home of over a decade as a guest on The Andrew Marr Show just months later.
2. Alesha Dixon
Having waltzed back onto our screens in 2007 and winning Strictly Come Dancing, the singer returned to the BBC flagship show in 2009 as a judge. But after three series Dixon quit to become a judge on ITV's Britain's Got Talent, prompting rumours that the commercial channel had offered her triple what she was earning with the BBC. Upon leaving Dixon said in a statement that Strictly would "always hold a special place in my heart".
3. Lucy Manning
The BBC snapped up the ITV News UK Editor in 2014 along with Senior News Editor Ed Campell in what some observers called a "brain drain" from ITV News to the BBC. Manning and Campbell followed in the footsteps of ITV head of home news Toby Castle, now a BBC deputy news editor and ex-ITV News business editor Laura Kuenssberg who is now on Newsnight.
4. Jonathan Ross
The chat show host was with the BBC for 12 years before he defected to ITV in 2010. The star said the decision not to renew his £18 million three-year contract with the BBC was "not financially motivated". The announcement came a day after it became public knowledge that Graham Norton had signed a two-year deal with the BBC, making him a ready-made replacement for Ross's chat show role.
5. Ant and Dec
It seems strange to think that the faces of ITV got their first presenting gigs on the BBC. After starring as PJ and Duncan on children's TV show Byker Grove, the duo landed their first prime time presenting jobs on BBC Saturday Night game show Friends Like These. They moved to ITV in 2001 to present Pop Idol and have gone on to present a string of other successful shows for the broadcaster, including Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here and Britain's Got Talent.
6. Adrian Chiles
In 2010 football front man Adrian Chiles left the BBC where he began his career for a lucrative £6 million deal at ITV. Chiles' departure was less than amicable as he was reportedly furious to be replaced by Chris Evans on The One Show, which he had presented since its inception. Of ITV's offer Chiles said "coming as it did at an awkward period for me at the BBC, it made the decision to leave not quite as hard." As well as hosting ITV's Daybreak, Chiles became the new face of ITV's football coverage, beginning with the World Cup in South Africa.
7. Sir Michael Parkinson
After 20 years at the BBC, the chat show host - considered to be one of the broadcaster's biggest stars – left in 2004 to produce an almost identical show for ITV. The return of Match of the Day to BBC One on Saturday nights meant the channel could no longer guarantee his prime time 10pm slot. BBC chiefs were reported to have been "shocked" and "not pleased" at the decision.
