John Cleese calls fellow GB News presenter Boris Johnson a ‘serial liar’
John Cleese has revealed that he received an “extraordinary” offer to host a show on GB News, as he brands his new colleague Boris Johnson a “serial liar”.
The former prime minister revealed on Friday that he is getting his own programme on GB News, making him the latest Tory politician to join the right-wing TV channel as a presenter.
In a video posted on X, the troublesome former PM said he was “excited” to sign up to the “remarkable” new channel – boasting that the show would allow him to share his “unvarnished views” on politics.
On Saturday, Mr Cleese took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to say he could “hardly believe” his employer GB News would give a “proven serial liar” their own programme.
I can hardly believe that GB News will give this proven serial liar his own programme https://t.co/Fy443LuH9S
— John Cleese (@JohnCleese) October 28, 2023
The ex-PM sensationally quit as an MP in June after claiming he was the victim of a “witch hunt” over his Partygate scandal – having been found to have deliberately lied to the Commons about his knowledge of rule-breaking.
The criticism comes just one day before the Fawlty Towers actor and comedian launches his 10-part GB News show, The Dinosaur Hour, on 29 October, where he will interview a range of people from inside a 12th-century castle.
He told The Sunday Times that GB News, or KGB News as he calls it, made him “the best offer I’ve ever had from a TV company”.
Speaking about how he came to have a show on GB News, Cleese said: “They came to me a few months ago and they made me the most extraordinary offer that’s ever been made to anyone in the history of television.”
This is not the first time the 83-year-old has criticised GB News. He preciously called out presenter Mark Dolan for what he called “really appalling” behaviour after Dolan had called Meghan Markle “Woko Mono” on several occasions.
Cleese posted on Twitter: “It seems to me that GB News is harming itself by putting out this nasty, vulgar rubbish.”
He did not comment, however, on the controversy surrounding Laurence Fox’s misogynistic comments on GB News, which led to him being sacked by the channel earlier this month.
Boris Johnson joins a series of former Tory colleagues – including ally Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, current deputy chair Lee Anderson and fellow Brexiteer Nigel Farage – with their own shows at the controversial channel.
In the video he said: “I am excited to say that I am shortly going to be joining you on GB News.
“I’m going to be giving this remarkable new TV channel my unvarnished views on everything from Russia, China, the war in Ukraine, how we meet all those challenges, to the huge opportunities that lie ahead for us, why I believe our best days are yet to come.
“And why on the whole the people of the world want to see more ‘global Britain’, not less.”