Gareth Edwards: A career moving between outrageous and outrage

Just ask Prime Minister David Cameron who, while still just a humble MP, was quizzed rather indelicately by Ross in 2006 about whether he had ever had youthful sexual fantasies about Margaret Thatcher.

Or perhaps glamour girl Abi Titmuss, who the presenter once quipped had "been tied to more bed posts than David Blunkett's dog".

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Madonna threatened him with a black eye after he greeted her appearance on his Friday night chat show with the line "congratulations on your lovely little black baby", and while Heather Mills isn't exactly loved by the general public, many were still shocked when he quipped of the ex-Mrs McCartney: "I wouldn't be surprised if we find out she actually has two legs."

These are just some of the near-the-knuckle gags which have marked almost a decade presenting Friday Night With Jonathan Ross, and tomorrow night TV viewers will settle down to enjoy the last-ever edition of the popular show.

Even for a presenter so well rehearsed at treading the fine line between outrageous and outrage, it is an ending that seemed almost inevitable after the furore which erupted over a series of obscene and offensive phone calls left on the answer phone of actor Andrew Sachs and broadcast as part of Russell Brand's radio show in 2008.

While he is paying a heavy price for the scandal - one which many might joke he can well afford on his reported multi-million pound salary - this is hardly the first time he has courted controversy in his long career.

Ross started out his career as a researcher on the Channel 4 show Loose Talk. His big break came in 1987 when he presented The Last Resort with Jonathan Ross, a chat-show which lifted its style from Late Night With David Letterman.

The show, a rough and ready version of the Friday Night slot on the BBC, catapulted him into the public eye and despite a few hiccups he was given another short-lived chat show on Channel 4 in 1989.

While not one of his more memorable gigs, One Hour with Jonathan Ross was credited with introducing comedians such as Vic Reeves, Bob Mortimer, Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson to a TV audience.

Ross went on to host the annual Comedy Awards from 1991 to 2008, sparking his own controversy in 2007 when he joked that his salary was worth "1000 BBC journalists" - just as the corporation prepared to shed 2000 staff.

As well as a love of garish suits and comic books, Ross has always been a fan of cult movies, presenting The Incredibly Strange Film Show on Channel 4 in 1988, as well as writing a book on the subject, and in 1999 he took on the challenge of succeeding revered critic Barry Norman on the Film programme.

It has been his long-running stint as the face of Friday nights that has brought the most fame, and the most controversy, however. It is this risque humour which has cost him his spot at the BBC, but don't expect him to play it safe at ITV later this year. It's not in his nature.