Adrian Chiles finds watching himself on TV 'repellent'

Adrian Chiles admitted he finds the sight of himself on television "repellent" but said he was forced to watch a recording of Daybreak in a bid to improve the show's ratings.

The ITV1 morning show drew a million viewers for the first time last month, having earlier seen its audience dip as low as 500,000 at one stage.

Chiles told Radio Times he had previously only watched around 20 minutes of himself on television during a career going back more than 20 years.

He said: "I still don't like to look at myself in the monitor. I literally can't bear the sight of myself.

"I'm not fishing for compliments. I find the sight of myself just repellent."

But co-host Christine Bleakley persuaded him to watch the show to see if they could spot any obvious mistakes.

He said: "She's very technically minded about the craft of television, shots and lighting - she's always banging on about it.

"About a month into the show, when we were getting really panned, she said 'Look, we've got to just go and sit and watch it'.

"So I cooked and she came round to my place, and I was dreading it. I'd have less dreaded two hours with the dentist that evening."

The pair started fronting Daybreak, which replaced the axed GMTV, in September after presenting BBC programme The One Show together.

Chiles signed up with ITV after falling out with BBC bosses and Bleakley followed him after mulling over offers from both channels.

:: Read the full interview in Radio Times out now