When hotel handyman Michael Doherty was asked if he wanted to star in a TV documentary he jumped at the chance, believing it would be “a bit of a laugh” – a chance to get his face on the telly and raise a few laughs with his mates.

What he never imagined, however, was that his brief brush with fame would get him the sack.

Mr Doherty, formerly of Watford’s Best Western White House Hotel, in Upton Road, was given his marching orders after appearing on Channel 4’s Undercover Boss.

The show, watched by millions of viewers last month, saw the jovial 49-year-old demonstrating a decidedly lackadaisical work ethic to new recruit Andy, as the pair attempted to get the building ready for an inspection.

What Michael didn’t know, however, was that “Handy Andy” was actually David Clarke – UK chief executive of Best Western Hotels.

Viewers saw the pair attempting to “cheat” hotel inspectors by swapping defective furniture and fittings between rooms, a practice described by a visibly stunned Mr Clarke as “absolutely disgraceful,” as he grew increasingly irritated by Mr Doherty’s now infamous catch-phrase “don’t worry about that”.

“I watched the show and thought ‘oh my God, what have I done?” explained the now jobless father-of-two. “It really didn’t look good; I just kept saying ‘don’t worry about that’. I came in the next day and everybody was taking the Mickey.

"Then I got a letter telling me to go to a disciplinary meeting on the Monday – where they sacked me for gross misconduct”

As a result, Mr Doherty, who was also living on site, also lost his home. He has been staying with friends and family ever since.

He says he agreed to take part in the filming “to help the hotel”, believing the Channel 4 film crew was actually making a routine fly-on-the wall style documentary.

He added: “I suppose I was just trying to be a bit comical – in a way I was playing up to the cameras. The end result didn’t reflect well on me but I had been filmed for four hours. Out of that they used ten minutes. Obviously the idea of the show is that managers see what is wrong and then fix it, so the film has to focus on what’s wrong.

“I was also only doing what I had been told to do by the management.”

But despite losing his job, Mr Doherty says he has no regrets about appearing on the show.

He added: “I’ve had a lot of fun with it. I’d only been there for six months and didn’t really like it much. People have also been recognising me all over the place, they keep coming up and saying ‘don’t worry about that’. My son reckons I should get some T-shirts printed with that on them.

“But I do have to find another job, and this won’t help with that. I would say to people appearing on the telly to be careful what they say.”