Lorraine Kelly has condemned Rishi Sunak for axing the daily appearances by ministers on shows including Good Morning Britain.
The breakfast telly legend said the government needs to be held “accountable” for how it is running the country.
The Mirror revealed last week the PM will no longer allow his frontbenchers to be grilled every weekday morning.
Until now, one minister has been chosen by No10 each day to answer questions on popular programmes such as BBC Breakfast and BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme.
The Tories will now only provide a minister to be interviewed on around three mornings a week. They will focus on days when they have something specific to announce.
Ms Kelly, who has been on breakfast TV screens since 1984, told Times Radio’s Matt Chorley: “I don't think that's right because you have got to be accountable, you really do.”
The host of Lorraine accused politicians of failing to act like normal people when they do appear on TV.
“What frustrates me is that the way that they have been schooled, they are like robots,” she said.
“It is such a joy to meet a politician who is a person. Somebody like Ed Balls. I realise he’s not in politics now, but his wife as well, Yvette (Cooper), she’s like a real person.
“Nicola Sturgeon, no matter what you might think of her politics, but she is a brilliant communicator and a great politician. You feel as if she would know the price of milk.”
Susanna Reid, the presenter of Good Morning Britain, said the decision to stop daily interviews is a “huge mistake”.
The axing of the daily interviews has prompted accusations that Mr Sunak is running scared of scrutiny.
In his first speech as PM, he pledged: “This government will have integrity, professionalism, and accountability at every level.”
His first month in No10 has been dominated by scandals involving his ministers.
Gavin Williamson resigned from Cabinet after just two weeks as faced bullying claims.
Deputy PM Dominic Raab is going to be investigated after two formal complaints were made about his behaviour towards staff.
And Mr Sunak has been criticised for appointing Suella Braverman as Home Secretary just six days after she was sacked from the job for leaking. The minister, nicknamed “Leaky Sue” now faces questions over her shambolic handling of the immigration situation, as record numbers of people make dangerous Channel crossings.
When Boris Johnson was in No10, certain outlets were boycotted by his ministers for periods of time, but they still appeared on most other breakfast and TV programmes.
In the wake of the 2019 election, the Tories stopped ministers appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme as punishment for the corporation’s election coverage. The boycott came to an end after three months when the coronavirus pandemic took hold in March 2020.
A month later ministers withdrew from interviews on Good Morning Britain following a series of heated exchanges with presenters Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid over their handling of the pandemic. The boycott lasted 201 days, before No10 backed down.
Sky News’s Kay Burley also faced a short boycott after she interviewed an empty chair in protest at then Tory chairman James Cleverly not appearing on her programme.
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