Hislop and Merton behind Deayton sacking

Angus Deayton’s co-stars Paul Merton and Ian Hislop were identified last night as the main movers behind his sacking.

The Have I Got News For You panellists told bosses at the BBC they were concerned that Deayton’s private life was at risk of overshadowing the programme and distorting its satirical nature.

One source revealed: ‘They said it was nothing personal towards him, but Angus had become the story rather than the show being about stories.’

To viewers of last Friday’s edition, it was obvious that Hislop in particular disapproved of Deayton’s attempts to laugh off his affairs, drug-taking and sex with prostitutes.

They taunted him mercilessly and at one point he tried to make a joke of his indiscretions. But Hislop remarked: ‘It just isn’t funny, is it, Angus?’ Deayton squirmed and there was an uncomfortable silence in the studio.

Sources close to the troubled presenter say he feels ‘betrayed’ by his colleagues and is devastated he was not allowed to remain on the show for the remainder of the series.

After seeing last Friday’s episode and the obvious animosity towards Deayton, BBC executives decided to axe the 45-year- old from his £50,000-a-week post.

Friends of Deayton have alleged that the show looked as though it had been edited to include as many unflattering remarks about him as possible. Two days ago he was asked to step down at a private meeting with BBC controller of entertainment Jane Lush.

Hat Trick, which makes the show for the BBC, agreed it had become ‘untenable’ for him to continue fronting the quiz he presented for more than a decade.

Deayton made it clear that he did not want to leave but was being forced to.

‘I’m very sorry to have been forced to leave a show that I’ve enjoyed immensely and has been part of my life for the past 12 years,’ he said.

There was little public backing for him last night from those he worked with. Neither Merton nor Hislop would make any public comment.

Although his days on the satirical quiz are over, Deayton may continue to host other BBC programmes.

He is due to record another edition of the nostalgia show Before They Were Famous in November.

The presenter has been living on borrowed time since sordid details of his private life first emerged in June. Then, it was revealed that he had sex in a Manchester hotel with 29-year-old former call girl Caroline Martin and snorted cocaine.

He was taunted by Hislop and Merton on Have I Got News For You and subsequently apologised to his 42-year-old long-term girlfriend Lise Meyer, the mother of his young son.

He tried to patch things up with Miss Meyer and was allowed to continue to present the new series of the quiz after taking a pay cut.

But BBC1 controller Lorraine Heggessey warned that he was on probation.

A fortnight ago – just after the first episode of the new series – his private life hit the headlines once more.

The latest scandal involved three-in-a-bed sex sessions with his mistress Stacy Herbert.

The blonde American revealed to a newspaper how she and a friend had sex with the presenter and how she shared him with prostitutes.

It happened, she said, after she went on holiday with him and Miss Meyer, who was six months pregnant at the time.

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