Tarrant takes home a ton

Who Wants To Be A Millionnaire? host Chris Tarrant has cemented his position as one of the highestpaid celebrities on British television after quitting Capital Radio.

The 56-year-old presenter leaves the station on Friday after 18 years as the voice of its breakfast show.

Following weeks of negotiations, he is starting two new TV series - Tarrant's Travels, ITV's answer to Michael Palin, and Footsteps Of White Polar Bears.

Tarrant's Travels will see the presenter and his wife of 12 years, Ingrid, touring the UK in a vintage open-top Rolls Royce when it starts filming at the end of this year.

Footsteps Of White Polar Bears - the programme's working title - allows him to achieve a life-long ambition of tracking the arctic bears in northern Canada.

The two commissions are expected to earn him about £3 million on top of the £4.2 million he earns annually as presenter of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? and Tarrant On TV.

HE has also been manoeuvring himself into the position of media mogul and will soon announce the launch of his own production company, CTV. The company's first production will be his polar bear documentary. Tarrant's Travels has been commissioned by Carlton.

Insiders at Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? production company Celador say the programme has been recommissioned for a further two years. His rolling contract for Tarrant On TV is expected to be renewed again next year.

Tarrant, a former teacher, also makes a fortune from voiceovers and can earn £8,000 for a personal appearance. His income has enabled him to buy a £1.5 million home in Surrey, a 16-room house in Stratford-upon-Avon and a £850,000 villa in Cannes.

Earning £7.2 million a year will make him the best-paid TV personality in Britain. The most recent media earnings list, compiled by the Sunday Times, placed Rowan Atkinson first with £6 million a year, thanks mainly to his 2003 movie Johnny English. Anne Robinson, host of The Weakest Link, was also reported to have earned about £6 million during the previous 12 months.

Tarrant's years as a TV and radio personality have amassed him an estimated £28 million fortune. A source close to the presenter said: "It's business as usual for Chris - he's a self-confessed workaholic after all.

"With his production company, he'll be producing and appearing in a number of new shows. White polar bears have been an absolute passion of his for a long time. And in Tarrant's Travels, he and Ingrid will be touring in her father's vintage Rolls.

"But, before that, Chris is having a couple of weeks holiday. He leaves Capital on Friday at 9am and is taking a very fast car to the airport for an 11am flight to Barbados with his wife and family, where he will be spending the next few weeks watching the English test cricket."

Another TV source said: " Millionaire has just been recommissioned for another two years, with Tarrant at the helm, and he has an ongoing contract with ITV for Tarrant On TV. He writes and produces and presents that - and it's an open-ended contract."