A TV legend who was once employed by ITV has slammed the channel for making ‘cheap TV’ and hiring presenters like Gino D’Acampo.

Derrick Evans, 72, better known to viewers as fitness instructor Mr. Motivator, rose to fame in the early 1990s as part of ITV’s GMTV line-up.

He became known for his brightly-coloured gym outfits and positive attitudes as he encouraged the UK to make fitness more than a habit.

Around the turn of the millennium, Derrick returned to his native Jamaica to help his daughter who had fallen ill – at the same time, GMTV was dissolved by ITV.

After returning to the UK later in the 2000s, he made sporadic TV appearances in the 2010s and joined several schemes to help people keep fit during Covid lockdowns.

But Derrick has said he wants more lights, camera, and action than he’s currently getting, and seems to have taken aim at TV chef Gino the process.

‘I have earned the position where I should have my own show’ (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
Slamming his former employer, he said: ‘I have earned the position where I should have my own show. Why should I not be presenting some of these shows?

‘I look at Family Fortunes and it’s an easy show to present. You almost don’t even have to speak English to present it. If you know what I mean, right?’

Italian native Gino began presenting Family Fortunes when it was revived in 2020 after 18 years off the air, and new episodes are still being made.

The fitness guru made his name in the 1990s (Picture: PA)

”I look at Family Fortunes and it’s an easy show to present,’ Derrick said (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)

Is Mr. Motivator gunning for Gino’s spot? (Picture: ITV/Matt Frost)
Derrick then accused ITV of making ‘cheap TV shows’ like quizzes, instead of encouraging fitness and health with their regularly scheduled programming.

His most recent comments have come just days after he revealed his former ITV colleague Eamonn Holmes ‘doesn’t speak to [him]’ anymore.

Eamonn, 65, has been visibly struggling with mobility issues and health problems in recent years – although Derrick offered to help Eamonn if he was given an olive branch.

He told the Daily Star: ‘I think everybody has to make a decision when the time is right in their life, after we leave it too late. If you leave and neglect [a relationship], that’s what happens if there’s a price to pay.

‘Eammon doesn’t speak to me so, on that basis, I’m probably the wrong person for him. You can take a donkey to water but you can’t make it drink.’

Mr. Motivator still appears on GB News (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
In 2024, Derrick appeared with Eamonn on GB News, with the fitness guru taking the TV presenter through a low-intensity workout on live TV.

However, Eamonn, who has been seen using a wheelchair at points during the last 18 months, struggled through the routine and said afterwards, ‘It’s like a living nightmare.’

Adding: ‘We get the message, [Mr. Motivator], thank you. We look forward to seeing you when you’re 91 instead of 71, my friend.’

In recent years, Derrick has appeared on special episodes of CBeebies Bedtime Stories, Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, and on the New Year’s special broadcast on GB News.

He splits his time between the UK and Jamaica with his wife Sandra and was given an MBE in 2020 for services to health and fitness.