Comedian Joe Lycett left fans in stitches after pretending to be “right-wing” during an appearance on Laura Kuenssberg’s new BBC politics show on Sunday morning.
The 34-year-old funny man, who has been openly critical of the Tory government, was asked by Laura about the strength of Liz Truss 's position as the leadership race comes to an end.
As Joe decided to change tack and instead of lambasting the Tories, decided to praise the frontrunner against Rishi Sunak, he left fellow panellists Labour’s Emily Thornberry and former Number 10 staffer Cleo Watson stifling giggles.
He said: “You said earlier I’m not left or right. I know there's been criticism in the Mail on Sunday today about lefty liberal wokie comedians on the BBC.”
With a straight-face, he announced: “I’m actually very right wing and I love it.”
He continued: “I thought she gave great clear answers. I know exactly what she's up to."
Seemingly annoyed by the ruse, Laura pressed on and asked Joe to take the line of question seriously, to which he insisted he was not being “sarcastic”.
As Laura attempted to get him to drop his persona, she then added: “[Truss] suggested there’s a big package of help coming this week to help people pay their bills”.
Lycett responded: “Yeah, she was very clear what she said. I think you know exactly what's going to happen. I’m reassured, you’re reassured.”
He then turned to fellow guest Emily Thornberry, who was smirking at the joke and asked: “Are you reassured?”
He added: “I think the haters will say we've had 12 years of the Tories, and that we're sort of at the dregs of what they've got available, and that Liz Truss is sort of like the backwash of the available MPs. I wouldn’t say that because I'm incredibly right-wing, but some people might say that.”
Touching on the cost of living crisis, he said: “As Liz said there, she said it would be wrong to predict the future even though loads of people have predicted we're going to have real issues with paying energy bills.
“I think she’s right to say, basically, let’s not predict, let’s just see what happens next week. I think she did the right thing there.”
One other memorable moment saw Joe criticising the BBC’s interview with Rishi Sunak, as “he’s not going to be Prime Minister, so you may as well have interviewed Peter Andre.”
Lycett's appearance on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg quickly went viral as a highlight clip circulated, with many praising the comedian.
One wrote: “This is f***ing spectacular, and if you look closely, you can see the instant in which Kuenssberg resolves to bury whoever booked Joe Lycett in a shallow grave in Epping Forest.”
A second wrote: “Beyond brilliant. These ludicrous discussions & pretty much all political panels dance around the fact that we’re governed by dissembling imbeciles propelled to power by the epic lies of Brexit. Genius.”
“Grade A trolling from Joe Lycett this morning. Sensational scenes,” a third tweeted.
One more added: “In a single morning Joe Lycett has blown the lid off a failed format. Stifled, predictable dialogue doesn’t reassure people who are living through catastrophe. Joe Lycett has performed a public service, quite frankly.”
