‘If you want to go to war with me, you really can’: Third placed I’m a Celebrity contestant Nigel Farage slams ITV exec Kevin Lygo over ‘unpleasantries’ and bias and reminds him of NatWest de-banking row to warn ‘look what happened to Dame Alison Rose’
- The politician hit back at the ITV Boss on GB News last night
Nigel Farage has blasted ITV’s Director of Television, Kevin Lygo, for ‘rude, one-handed gestures’ and accused some staff of ‘pathetic attempts’ to ‘stitch’ him up during his time on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!.
The politician, 59, came third in the reality show as former Made In Chelsea star Sam Thompson was crowned the winner and boxer Tony Bellew came second.
Following his return from the jungle, Mr Farage issued a warning to ITV boss Kevin Lygo for his ‘unpleasant’ behaviour, making an apparent reference to a promotional event where Lygo reportedly joked about the sign language for the I’m a Celebrity star.
Speaking on his GB News show last night, Mr Farage urged Mr Lygo not to ‘go to war’ with him, warning ‘look what happened’ to Dame Alison Rose.
Pictured: Nigel Farage speaking on GB News last night addressing ITV Boss Kevin Lygo
Pictured: Kevin Lygo, ITV’s Director of Television, has been blasted for reportedly making ‘life quite unpleasant’ for the politician
Pictured: Mr Farage urged Mr Lygo not to ‘go to war’ with him, warning ‘look what happened’ to Dame Alison Rose
The former chief executive of Natwest was forced to quit her role amid the fallout over the de-banking row with Mr Farage.
Dame Alison Rose initially tried to cling on to her £5million-a-year post despite dramatically admitting she was behind the leaking of a customer’s financial details.
But she finally fell on her sword in July following an extraordinary intervention from the PM and Chancellor, who made clear their ‘significant concerns’.
Mr Farage is not the first controversial politician to enter into the Australian jungle, following Matt Hancock’s appearance last year.
They experienced almost the same trajectory in the programme, with the former Secretary of State for Health and Social Care also claiming third place.
During the final, Nigel faced his biggest fear yet as he took on the final Bushtucker Trial of the series during Sunday night’s episode.
The politician took part in Panic Pit in the hope to win the three finalists desserts, himself a drink and a treat.
Mr Farage also broke the show’s strict ban on nudity, arguing that he had a right to clean thoroughly.
Speaking on GB News last night, the former leader of UKIP said: ‘It seems whilst I was in there, one or two people up at the top of ITV were doing their best to make life quite unpleasant for me.
Pictured: Mr Farage took part in the final Bushtucker Trial of the series on ‘I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!
Pictured: Mr Farage during a Bushtucker eating trial on the ITV show
Pictured: Mr Lygo reportedly made a ‘rude, one-handed gesture’ about the politician at the channel’s Palooza event last month
Speaking directly to the ITV boss, he said: ‘But I would say to you Mr Kevin Lygo, the boss of ITV, it’s up to you mate if you want to go to war with me you really can.
READ MORE: Nigel Farage claims he told ITV bosses to go to hell following FURIOUS row over his naked I’m A Celebrity scenes
Fact-box text
‘The last person that did that was called Dame Alison Rose from Natwest bank and look what happened to her.
‘So I would suggest Mr Lygo that I am prepared to ignore your rude, one-handed gestures, the pathetic attempts by some of your staff to stitch me up.
‘I’m prepared to forget all of it if we can call a truce, but if you really really want to go to war with me I don’t think it’ll do ITV share price an awful lot of good.
‘So lets please end the nonsense and lets do it now.’
Mr Lygo reportedly spoke in front of a host of ITV stars including Susanna Reid and Lorraine Kelly at the channel’s Palooza event last month, according to The Mirror.
He was accompanied on stage by a sign language interpreter when he apparently made a rude, one-handed gesture and joked: ‘Thank you to the signer I don’t know any sign language, I just know the sign for Nigel Farage.’
Speaking about the Brexit campaigner, Mr Lygo reportedly said: ‘Don’t worry, he knows he has to come home from in a dinghy,’ according to The Mirror.
Mr Lygo came under fire this week following ITV’s report into Phillip Schofield’s affair with a younger colleague, which some staff have dubbed a ‘whitewash’.
The report, conducted by an independent lawyer Jane Mulcahy KC, found that ITV did not cover-up the relationship and that station bosses had made ‘considerable efforts’ to discover the truth in 2019 – four years before the affair broke.
However, staff at ITV have been left cross, accusing the report of being a ‘waste of time’.
One staff member told the Mail: ‘There’s a chasm between this report and reality. What’s clear is that ITV will need more than policies and procedures to address its culture of silence.’
Sources at ITV say that they have ‘full confidence’ in This Morning editor Martin Frizell and its head of daytime, Emma Gormley.
There have been calls for chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall and her number two Kevin Lygo to be sacked, though insiders now think that their jobs will also be safe.
Source: Read Full Article