Joe Lycett says anger over friend’s funeral led to him being ‘very silly’ in notorious BBC interview

Comedian has shed light on ‘You smashed it, Liz!’ remark

Joe Lycett has explained why he made Liz Truss look “silly” during a controversial BBC interview.

The comedian appeared on the first episode of Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg on 4 September alongside Labour’s Emily Thornberry and former No 10 staffer Cleo Watson.

After watching Kuenssberg interview then-prime ministerial candidate Truss live in the studio, Lycett could be heard shouting off-screen: “You smashed it, Liz!”

Lycett then sarcastically shared his thoughts about Truss and the Tory government, while joking that he is “extremely right-wing”.

During the interview, Lycett said of Truss: “I know there’s been criticism in the The Mail on Sunday today about leftie liberal wokie comedians on the BBC. I’m actually very right wing and I love it. I thought she gave great clear answers. I know exactly what she’s up to.”

Reflecting on the viral interview, Lycett told The News Agents that his sarcasm stemmed from anger over the government’s “consistent lying” in regards to the Partygate scandal.

“Since Partygate, I’ve been very angry with the government because I lost my best friend at the start of lockdown – he'd had cancer for a long time,” Lycett said, explaining that he decided to stop visiting him in order to follow Covid regulations.

Lycett said that his friend “had a very small, inadequate funeral”, adding: “We did everything properly and to find out they didn't – less that they didn’t, 'cause I understand the movement of government, and there was so much going on and people make mistakes... I get that.

“But the consistent lying that they all did for each other and for Boris [Johnson], I thought was disgraceful, really. I thought it was disgusting how they behaved in office.”

The comedian said that, being faced with Truss and Rishi Sunak in the BBC studio, he “felt angry”, which usually results in him “getting silly”.

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“When they came into that room and I was sat there, I felt the swell of anger. And when I get angry, I get silly. I don’t shout. I get sort of like, 'How can I make this person look silly?' I'd sort of half planned to be sarcastic on it, but I hadn’t worked out any lines or anything.”

Joe Lycett mocked Liz Truss on BBC show (BBC)

In response to his comments on The News Agents, Lycett sarcastically tweeted: “Just to be clear I’m being very sarcastic here. I actually love lying and @BorisJohnson !!”

The evening after his appearance, the comedian shared the following day’s Daily Mail front page, which featured the headline: “Now BBC Comic Mocks Liz Truss.” The paper reported that the BBC had been accused of “anti-Tory bias” due to Lycett’s segment.

Lycett captioned the post: “I’ll be off to the framers in the morning.”

More than a month later, he revealed this was no joke after unveiling the framed front page on Twitter, writing: “It’s perfect.”

Joe Lycett mocked Liz Truss on BBC show (YouTube)

Elsewhere during the interview, Kuenssberg showed a news report that argued that Truss is a “stronger” candidate “than you think”.

“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,” Lycett said in response.

“I wouldn’t say that, because I’m incredibly right-wing, but some people might say that.”