Susanna Reid pulled no punches as she sat down live with Boris Johnson on Tuesday's Good Morning Britain as the Prime Minister ended his near five year hiatus from the ITV show, firing a damning first question about 'honesty,' in his direction.
News of the interview broke on Monday and came as a shock to GMB viewers, given the PM's reluctance to appear on the show in recent years, particularly at the height of the Covid pandemic when his own ministers were regularly put up for interviews. Susanna once famously accused Johnson of 'hiding in a fridge, ' to avoid questions from a GMB reporter, but on Tuesday, she sat opposite him at 10 Downing Street to fire some probing questions in his direction.
The interview was promised t o ITV viewers shortly after 8am, but ended up being pushed back to 8.30am, with it beginning straight after an ab break. And, serious in her tone from the off, Susanna said: "This is the interview we have waited 1,791 days for and couldn't have come at a better time as voters have their say in Thursday's election. I'm here live in the Downing Street study with Boris Johnson before he addresses the Ukrainian parliament, the first world leader to do so since Russia's invasion."
READ MORE: Boris Johnson enjoys chips in Whitley Bay during Tyneside visit
She added: "But, back home troubles are mounting. There are claims of sexism in parliament; Party Gate investigations continue and there is a rising cost of living crisis." After then telling the PM: "We have a lot to get through," Susanna went for the jugular straight away, asking him: "So many people want to know....are you honest Prime Minister?"
He replied: "Yes...I think the best way to judge that is look at what this Government says it's going to do and what it does," before Susanna interrupted: "And we'll get to that in a minute. I just want a straight answer. You're an honest speaker?"
Johnson responded: "Yes, it's important I do my best to faithfully and accurately what I believe. An sometimes it's controversial, sometimes it offends people but that's what I do." Not done there, Susanna told him: "People say you like Prime Minister," to which he replied: "If you're talking about the statements I made in the House of Commons, inadvertently I was wrong and I apologise for that. If you look at what the the Government has done..."
Not letting him squirm out of giving a direct answer, Susanna again interrupted, saying: "I just want to get on record what you say about honesty and telling the truth, because it's important to our viewers. And, again it seems remarkable, there are fact checkers at ever stage of every interview, who will go through your answers with a fine tooth comb."
