Ross BAFTA job "never in doubt"

BAFTA Chairman David Parfitt has revealed that Jonathan Ross's hosting job for the prestigious British film awards was "never in doubt".

Speaking to Digital Spy, Parfitt claimed that BAFTA had no hesitation in bringing back Ross to host for the third consecutive year, despite the controversy surrounding his involvement in the Andrew Sachs affair.

Parfitt said: "Two weeks after the last ceremony we had the discussion with the BBC and Jonathan's people, would he do it again? He said he would, we were very keen for him to do it. The only thing that was ever in doubt for us was whether the suspension would have gone across this period. It was never in doubt that we wanted him to do the show."

Parfitt admitted that he would have preferred Ross to have hosted the BAFTAs further away from the end of his suspension, adding: "I have a concern that the press will see that as the story of the night, and the story of the night for us is the BAFTA Awards and the films."

However, Parfitt noted that Ross's passion and dedication to cinema meant that he expected the show to run smoothly.

"We get the 'film' Jonathan and he loves film and he loves doing the awards," Parfitt said. "We're not changing anything, the script's going to be put together in the same way, we're not putting any extra checks in place. To my knowledge never he's sworn at our audience or caused offence, he's always been great. He's no problem for us."