Christine Bleakley's time was up as BBC did not want to become a 'patsy'

The BBC's creative director Alan Yentob has defended its decision to withdraw its offer of a new contract to Christine Bleakley - saying it did not want to become a "patsy".

Yentob said that a "talented" team of people, including Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans, who is set to present The One Show on Fridays, had been waiting for Bleakley's decision.

Adrian Chiles quit the teatime BBC1 show when it emerged that Evans was being brought in to co-present the slot on Friday evenings.

Yesterday Bleakley, 31, announced she would join Chiles, 43, on a revamped GMTV, after the BBC withdrew its offer of a new contract.

Today Yentob told Radio 5 Live that the BBC felt that "time had run out" and that the BBC did not want to be a "patsy" in the negotiations.

He said: "I am disappointed in a way, certainly she's talented, Christine, and we wanted her to stay but we had been in these discussions for a very long time.

"Christine's had every opportunity to say she wanted to stay so we felt that time had run out, that's why we withdrew the offer.

"The offer had been discussed thoroughly. Christine had said long ago that she wanted to carry on and people were waiting, including Chris Evans, talented people, a team of people.

"In the end the most important thing was her commitment and secondly when you do announce that you haven't made your mind up and you're negotiating with someone else as well you feel a bit of a patsy if you are sitting down.

"We stopped and said 'do you want to come?' and we didn't hear so we just felt that was the right decision (to withdraw the offer)."

He added: "People will give her every support and we wish her luck in ITV."

Asked whether Bleakley's public statement - in which she said she was torn between the BBC and ITV - could have been intended to drive up her fee in a bidding war, he said: "We were never going to change her fees.... we clearly have said before that we have to look at talent fees carefully and that we are not going to pay top dollar in all these instances.

"It's a different economic climate, that's part of our policy, and having all this negotiated in the public eye in this way was not helpful for that reason.

"We made an offer... and we felt if she couldn't make her mind up she didn't really want to come so we withdrew."

Yentob said it was "the BBC's right to refresh the schedule, decide it wants an entertainment focus on a Friday night and talk to other talent".

"It may not have been right for that talent and they have the right to go elsewhere but I think the BBC has been perfectly proper in its negotiations," he said.

It is thought that the BBC had been offering Bleakley a contract worth £450,000 a year to present new shows and become the face of the BBC's 2012 Olympics coverage.