Dan Walker's BBC Breakfast exit and death threats after Louis Tomlinson interview

Dan Walker has been a familiar face on television for many years, kick-starting his career as a commentator with Granada Television in 2003 before joining the team at BBC's North West Tonight in 2004.

In 2009, he took the reins as host of Football Focus on BBC One and later became the morning host on BBC Breakfast, sharing the screen with Louise Minchin until her exit, and briefly co-hosting with Sally Nugent.

His departure from the famous red sofa came as a shock to viewers who had been tuning in to watch him daily for over ten years.

It was announced that Dan would be embarking on a new venture as the lead anchor on 5 News.

Tonight, the renowned newsreader returns to our screens in a completely different capacity. He will feature in Dead Man Walking: Dan Walker on Death Row, which airs on Channel 5 at 9pm, reports Bristol Live.

With considerable anticipation surrounding tonight's episode, where Dan comes face-to-face with a double-murderer, it's hard not to recall his notable exit from BBC Breakfast and an on-air conversation that resulted in him receiving death threats.

In April 2022, Dan broke the hearts of viewers nationwide when he announced on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he would be stepping down from his role as co-presenter on BBC Breakfast.

He revealed his exit from the programme after a 13-year stint, attributing his departure to an irresistible offer from a competing broadcasting heavyweight.

At the moment of his announcement, Dan expressed: "It's always been my dream to do a job like this. It feels a bit surreal I won't be sitting on the sofa anymore."

In 2020, two years prior to Dan's decision to leave BBC Breakfast, he and co-host Louise Minchin interviewed One Direction's Louis Tomlinson.

Despite the star's explicit request to avoid discussing his late mother and sister, the conversation took a turn that ended up covering those very topics.

Louis, grappling with loss after his mother passed away from cancer in 2016 and his sister Félicité succumbed to an accidental drug overdose in 2019, announced to his followers: "Defo won't be going on there again," post-interview. This led Dan to publicly inquire about the cause of Louis's discontent on social media.

Louis responded, voicing his disappointment: "I was upset that you continued to ask me about my grief. It goes without saying how hard it is to lose both people so close to me. The least I ask is that you respect my decision of not wanting to be asked in interviews about something so painful.

"I'm lucky enough to have a creative outlet for me to talk about grief. This doesn't, however, give you the right to talk about it for gossip purposes."

Dan found himself absolutely gobsmacked post-chat with Louis and puzzled by the pop star's discontent over a grief-related question. Opening up on the Gold Minds podcast, hosted by famed ex-Olympian Jessica Ennis-Hill, Dan shared that he faced a barrage of death threats following his televised talk with the singer.

The seasoned newsreader defended his line of questioning regarding The One Direction heartthrob's personal loss, emphasizing that the inquiry had been pre-approved by Louis' handlers before the cameras rolled.

Relating the stressful episode to Jessica, Dan recounted: "I used to get weird death threats from people. I did an interview with Louis Tomlinson once and I asked him what was a perfectly legitimate question about the death of his mum, and we'd already said to his people that we would ask that, and he took it badly, and wasn't happy with it."

He described the intensity of the backlash from One Direction's die-hard fanbase, saying, "You know what it's like with One Direction, there were thousands and thousands of messages coming every 10 minutes. I think five people threatened to kill me that day."

Dead Man Walking: Dan Walker on Death Row, with the programme airing on Channel 5 from 9pm.