Adrian Chiles is SACKED by ITV with immediate effect halfway through his £1m contract and is replaced by BBC's Mark Pougatch

ITV has refused to discuss the reasons for presenter's sudden exit
MailOnline understands the broadcaster terminated his contract early
Chiles signed a £1m two-year deal just after last summer's World Cup
He was also sacked as Daybreak presenter and also had chat show axed
Five Live and Premier League TV presenter Mark Pougatch to replace him
Chiles, who earned £4.5m last year, has been a controversial figure
47-year-old will continue in his role with BBC Five Live, corporation says
Privately-educated Pougatch is married to aristocrat Lady Victoria Scott

Football presenter Adrian Chiles has today been sacked with immediate effect by ITV.

The 47-year-old, who reportedly earns more than £4.5million-a-year and is one of Britain's highest paid broadcasters, has been replaced at main football anchor by BBC radio presenter Mark Pougatch.

MailOnline understands Chiles was told this week that ITV wanted to terminate his two-year sports presenting contract early, which was signed shortly before the World Cup in Brazil last summer.

His sacking by ITV came four years after being lured from the BBC with a multi-million pound golden-handcuffs deal to become one of its biggest stars.

Sudden exit: Adrian Chiles manages a smile today despite being sacked as ITV's main football presenter

But within a year of joining breakfast show Daybreak in 2011 with on-screen partner Christine Bleakley the show was axed after ratings plunged.

ITV HAS GONE FROM WORKING CLASS BRUMMIE CHILES TO PRIVATELY- EDUCATED POUGATCH

ITV's decision to hire Mark Pougatch as its main football presenter is a major change in direction after Adrian Chiles.

Chiles is well-known as a dry working class Brummie and son of a scaffolder who worked for his father while studying for a degree.

He went on to become a stalwart BBC business reporter before an incredible transformation into one of Britain's highest-paid broadcasters after the success of The One Show.

Mark Pougatch is from a very different background.

He was educated at the prestigious Malvern College in Worcestershire, where he became the captain was of the First XI cricket team.

He studied politics at Durham University before joining the BBC.

He is married to aristocrat Lady Victoria Scott - the younger daughter of the 5th Earl of Eldon -- a rich landowner. They live in Oxfordshire with their three children.

In March 2012, he won the Sports Journalists' Association award for Sports Broadcaster of the Year.

As well as football, he has covered events such as the Olympic and Commonwealth Games, Wimbledon, boxing bouts and several home and abroad England cricket matches.

Most of his work is on Five Live, where he will continue as long as it does not interfere with his new ITV work.

Last summer he took a £1million salary cut and agreed a £500,000-a-year deal just to present football on ITV until summer 2016 - but bosses decided to end it early.

The broadcaster would not comment on the reasons for Chiles' departure and neither would his agent.

His replacement Mark Pougatch is one of the BBC's key sports radio presenters, appearing mainly on Five Live.

The Malvern College-educated 46-year-old is married to Lady Victoria Scott, the youngest daughter of 5th Earl of Eldon, and they live together in Oxfordshire with their three children.

He will present ITV's next live match, which is the Chelsea v Paris St Germain Champions League game next month.

It follows ITV's decision not to renew the contract of pundit Andy Townsend.

Although the reasons for Chiles' departure remain unclear, ITV's reduction in staff may be linked to their dwindling broadcast rights and the cost of his contract.

Their FA Cup deal ended last season, while they will not show the 2015/16 Champions League campaign after losing out on the rights to BT Sport.

Match of the Day host Gary Lineker tweeted: 'Blimey! ITV football have been busy in the transfer window. Wish Mark Pougatch all the very best'.

Mr Pougatch said: 'I am absolutely delighted to be joining ITV and to be given this great opportunity.

'I'm looking forward to working with ITV's talented pool of commentators and pundits on some of the very best football there is'.

ITV Director of Sport, Niall Sloane, said: 'Mark is a highly-respected sports journalist and an outstanding broadcaster. We're delighted to welcome Mark to the ITV Sport team.'

Changing places: Mr Pougatch, who works the majority of the time for BBC radio, has replaced Mr Chiles, pictured in Miami last year and will appear on screen in March

Response: BBC Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker revealed his surprise at Adrian Chiles' exit

Adrian Chiles on presenting ITV's World Cup coverage (related)

Mr Chiles has faced criticism for his dry presenting style and some ill-judged comments.

Chiles was the subject of a Facebook campaign to have him removed from ITV's football coverage after last year's World Cup, and last summer it was announced he was being given a much bigger role on BBC Radio Five Live as a presenter.

In 2013 he was forced to apologise over jokes about Polish football fans.

Chiles, whose mother is Croatian, blundered during ITV's coverage of England's 4-1 win over Montenegro when discussing the next World Cup qualifying match at Wembley against Poland.

Speaking at the end of the match, Chiles said: 'It’s practically a home game for Poland – 15,000 Poles will be in here, I’m sure.'

Pundit Lee Dixon then responded: 'Hopefully, they’re all crying at the end.' To which Chiles said: 'I’m trying to get some building work done at the moment, quite seriously. Be careful.'

Struggle: Chiles and Christine Bleakley were poached from the BBC in a multi-million pound deal but within a year of starting on Daybreak they were axed

New job: Mark Pougatch (left), pictured presenting boxing for Channel 5, will take over from Chiles immediately

Mr Chiles lives in a £2million apartment in west London and is divorced with two children.

He was married to BBC presenter Jane Garvey, and they were once regarded as the BBC’s golden couple.

But they parted in June 2008 after ten years and divorced in October 2009.

The couple’s break-up came amid intense speculation about Chiles’ relationship with his colleague Christine Bleakley.

But Christine describes Chiles as being ‘like a brother’ and is engaged to footballer Frank Lampard.

Mr Chiles was also in a relationship with comedian Catherine Tate, but the split in December 2013 due to work commitments.

THE INCREDIBLE RISE AND SUDDEN FALL OF STAR ADRIAN CHILES

Five years ago Adrian Chiles walked away from the BBC - his home for decades - to sign a multi-million-pound deal with ITV.

In his twenties he had joined the corporation on work experience in its business department and slowly rose up the ranks.

His bloke-next-door charm led to him becoming presenter of the BBC2 business show Working Lunch from 1994 to 2007.

But it was the decision to hire him to present The One Show that changed his life.

It first featured Myleene Klass as Chiles’ co-host until she was replaced by little-known Northern Irish presenter Christine Bleakley, and the on-screen couple were thrown into the spotlight.

Their success meant they were both lured from the BBC with a multi-million pound golden-handcuffs deal to become one of its biggest stars.

He was promised six days a week of work hosting Daybreak, his own panel show and the channel’s football coverage.

But within two years he had lost two of those three jobs.

A source close to him told the Mail at the time: ‘Adrian feels down because he’s used to being a real worker, at the BBC for many years and the first year at ITV. He feels he’s in his prime but isn’t being utilised'.

Daybreak was a huge disappointment for ITV.

The much-hyped chemistry between Adrian Chiles and his sidekick Christine Bleakley failed to materialise, with viewers deserting the programme in droves.

Ratings fell from the 900,000 that GMTV had attracted to a low at one point of just 300,000. Over on the BBC, the newsier Breakfast show managed to bring in 1.5 million viewers daily. Within a year of joining Chiles and Bleakley were fired.

A year later Chiles' chat show That Sunday Night Show was also axed.

And now his biggest love, football, has been taken away from him too and his ITV career is over for now.

At the height of his fame he was earning £4.5million-a-year but he was forced to take a £1million pay cut to sign a new contract with ITV just after the last World Cup, but now this deal has been cancelled.

The 47-year-old had been allowed to return to work for BBC Five Live last year and the BBC has confirmed to MailOnline he will stay there and work on other projects.

Adrian Chiles virals: Twitter lampoons ITV host after being suddenly replaced

Throughout his five years at the channel, Adrian Chiles elicited strong reactions from all sides of the public.

As news broke of his exit, Twitter reacted in remarkable fashion. Here, MailOnline takes a look at the best of the virals.