Martin Lewis celebrated the 20th anniversary of his first appearance on This Morning on Thursday with Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield.
The Money Saving Expert thanked ITV for giving him a chance back in 2003 and extended his gratitude to the BBC for letting him share financial advice on the radio before slamming the Beeb for recent programming decisions.
The BBC responded to Martin's comments after the segment aired on Thursday morning, pointing out how the state-funded broadcaster has several consumer affairs programming airing across multiple channels.
Martin began on This Morning saying: "Thanks for having me on, thank you for having me on for the last 20 years. Without that I wouldn't have my show that's on in the evenings which I'm very proud of as well. Just a little thing worth noting, thank you ITV."
"I know we shouldn't say things like this but ITV puts consumer journalism in day time and prime time," he continued. "And at the same time the BBC relegated, terribly, Watchdog to a concession on another programme.
"In the middle of a cost of living crisis we should be supporting consumer and consumer finance journalism and thank you ITV, the commercial channel, for doing it."
"Quite right," Holly commented before thanking the Money Saving Expert.
Regarding Martin's comment, a BBC spokesperson said: “Consumer affairs programming appears across the BBC and Watchdog is watched by millions as part of The One Show. Our cost of living campaign ‘Tackling It Together’ is running across all BBC platforms at all times of the day, delivering value for all.”
Ahead of his appearance, Martin tweeted: "I'm in @thismorning today as unbelievably its the 20th anniversary of my first appearance. Intrigued to see the clip of that first time..."
Earlier in the interview, Martin revealed he was close to "giving up" on his dream career in broadcasting before landing a role on This Morning.
The Money Saving Expert admitted he was repeatedly told: "Money doesn't work on television."
Martin explained he was asked to be on the ITV show after a chance encounter with a producer during a Radio 5 debate programme.
“After we bust the phone lines, four hours later, I got the call saying, ‘We'd like you on every week’ – and I burst into tears,” Martin recalled.
Phillip told him: “We’re very proud that we found you – you’ve been incredibly successful.”
Martin joins Holly and Phillip once a week on This Morning to answer calls from viewers about their money concerns.
The Money Saving Expert has presented The Martin Lewis Money Show Live on ITV since 2012.
After Piers Morgan's departure from Good Morning Britain, Martin is one of several presenters that steps in to host the show alongside Susanna Reid.
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