Danny Baker claims he was "thrown under the bus" by the BBC following his sacking.
The 62-year-old radio DJ says some of his pals wanted to support him publicly after he was axed from Radio 5 Live for a controversial tweet in May last year – when he posted a picture of a chimpanzee in a suit following the birth of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s baby Archie – but his friends couldn’t because they "had a mortgage".
He said: "The BBC threw me under the bus.
"I had 200 or 300 direct messages from people in showbusiness. But a few said they wanted to support me publicly but had a mortgage.
"I did not feel sorry for myself, because I shouldn’t."
Danny insists he made the "most outrageous, catastrophic mistake", and says he "deserved" everything he got.
Speaking on Tracy Ann Oberman’s ‘Trolled’ podcast, he added: "Mine was the most catastrophic mistake.
"The most outrageous catastrophic mistake, born out of something so trivial and the consequences of it so disastrous. Everything I got I deserved."
In August, Danny revealed his team enlisted security guards for his tour after he was sacked by the BBC.
He performed live gigs days after his departure, and fears over a potential backlash meant his team had to take "extra" measures for his protection.
Danny said: "They laid on extra security … I was told there might be protests. There wasn’t.
"You can get into that mentality where you think everyone’s now waiting to throw a rock at you. I got one bit of hate mail."
Danny has repeatedly apologised for the scandal and denied any allegations of racism, insisting he was trying to make a joke about class.
Danny Baker: The BBC threw me under the bus
