BBC newsreader Clive Myrie was reportedly pulled from last Friday’s episode (16 June) of the News at Ten, after making jokes about Boris Johnson on the broadcaster’s comedy show Have I Got News For You, which aired the same evening.
The pre-recorded satirical comedy show, which sees Ian Hislop, Paul Merton and guests panellists poke fun at current affairs, was screened at 9pm on Friday, just one hour before Myrie was due to present the news.
Myrie, 58, was replaced at the very last minute by presenter Jane Hill, after Charlotte Moore, the corporation’s content chief, became concerned about potential impartiality accusations, according to The Times.
The Independent has contacted the Myrie’s representative for comment. The BBC declined to comment when approached.
Myrie’s episode included several digs from the presenter aimed at the Tory party and the scandal surrounding Johnson’s lies about Partygate.
During the show’s opener, footage was shown of the former PM running with his Jack Russell cross, Dilyn. Doing a mock voiceover, Myrie quipped: “After being found by the House of Commons committee to have lied repeatedly, Boris Johnson takes the opportunity to deny that he’s ever been jogging or has a dog.”
At one point during the broadcast, he also reassured Helen Lewis, a guest journalist on the panel, that there would be a discussion about Johnson’s “mad” honours list.
Hislop told the audience: “You’ll remember you were here for the end of Clive Myrie’s career.” Merton added: “Or the beginning of a new rise.”
Moore is believed to have been worried about Myrie appearing in two successive BBC One programmes in such contrasting circumstances.
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“There wasn’t a specific joke that triggered the request,” an insider told The Times. “It was more to do with concerns that Clive was doing two very different types of programme within an hour of each other. There was possibly a bit of over-caution, which felt a bit over the top to most people in news.”
A BBC executive said: “It didn’t feel right for Clive to go almost straight to the news when he’d just been making jokes. It was a tonal thing rather than due to anyone being overly anxious.”
Clive Myrie on ‘Have I Got News For You’— (BBC)
Myrie is not the first newsreaders to guest host Have I Got News For You. Naga Munchetty, Steph McGovern, David Dimbleby and Jeremy Paxman have all fronted the show over the years.
The BBC has been embroiled in numerous impartiality rows in recent months. Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker was briefly told to step back from the show earlier this year over criticisms he made of the Tory policy on asylum-seekers.
The move sparked chaos in BBC sports programming as his fellow presenters, pundits and commentators staged a boycott in solidarity.
In April, BBC chairman Richard Sharp resigned after breaking rules over dealings with Johnson ahead of his appointment.
Myrie and his BBC colleagues, including Lyce Douset and Jeremy Bowen, have received huge praise for their reporting in Ukraine since Putin invaded the country last February, with Myrie at one point reporting the News at 10 live from a basement in Kyivs.
