“The truth is it’s a good decade since Nigel was the undisputed star of Britain’s classical music scene,” says the insider.

The TV chief was speaking out after the temperamental Mockney violinist – who topped the charts with Vivaldi’s Four Seasons in the early Nineties – pulled out of last week’s awards after organisers refused to meet the 51-year-old’s demand to be backed onstage by glamorous female string quartet Bond.

The source adds: “The classical music world has moved on since Nigel was at the top of his game and there are a host of younger, sexier stars who are a bigger draw.”

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