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AFTER 11 seasons as a judge on Idols South Africa‚ radio star Gareth Cliff has decided to call it a day.
Gareth made the shock announcement in a statement posted to his Facebook page on Monday.
“It’s time! After eleven seasons of Idols‚ it’s time for me to say goodbye. What better way to bring this chapter to a close than a trip to New York and meeting American Idols judge Harry Connick Jr and being on his post — Idols show — ‘Harry’‚” Gareth wrote.
Cliff would not reveal what he plans to do next‚ only telling fans to “watch this space’’.
His relationship with Idols has been stormy‚ after M-Net announced in January that he had been fired from the show for comments he had made on Twitter.
He had been embroiled in a heated debate around estate agent Penny Sparrow and had drawn criticism for commenting that:
“People really don’t understand free speech at all.”
Gareth was fired from the show but he took M-Net to court over the decision and was reinstated‚ with M-Net ordered to pay costs.
He later told reporters at a news conference that he held no grudges against the show’s producers.
“There are great people‚ much greater than me‚ who suffered for our right to free expression‚ people like Nelson Mandela who’ve said let bygones be bygones. So who am I‚ just a little ant in this picture‚ to say anything different and especially to hold a grudge. So I say‚ let bygones be bygones‚” he said.
Cliff recently announced an online radio collaboration with former Metro FM DJ Tbo Touch called Touch Central. — Sowetan.
Online Reporter