John Cleese told Ed Balls to “shut up” during an interview on Good Morning Britain on Tuesday.
The Fawlty Towers actor appeared on the ITV breakfast show ahead of joining GB News later this month, where he’ll front his new programme The Dinosaur Hour.
During the interview, Ed could not resist a cheeky dig at the recent scandal at John’s new employers, which has seen both Laurence Fox and Calvin Robertson axed from the station, while Dan Wootton is still suspended.
“You’re the only presenter joining them [GB News] rather than leaving them at the moment,” Ed told John.
The comedian replied: “They’re clearing out a certain amount which is not a bad idea. They do believe in free speech…”
Ed chimed in again, saying: “Get the old blood out and the new blood in.”
“Will you shut up?” John snapped back, prompting laughter from Ed and co-host Susanna Reid.
“You’re asking a question then talking over the answer,” she told Ed.
“He’s trying to get another question in,” John said. “Tell me which one you want me to answer.”
Ed said: “It’s what us interviewers do. You’ll find out.”
“I know, I’ve done quite a few,” John replied.
Last month, Laurence Fox was met with widespread backlash when, during an appearance on Dan Wootton’s evening show, he launched into a tirade of personal remarks about journalist Ava Evans.
During his rant, he said: “Show me a single self-respecting man that would like to climb into bed with that woman, ever, ever, who wasn’t an incel?”
Wootton did not intervene during Fox’s speech, only referring to a series of tweets Evans had posted towards the end of the discussion for “a touch of balance”, before insisting that she is a “very beautiful woman”.
Both Fox and Wootton were suspended by GB News the following day, with fellow contributor Calvin Robinson claiming later in the week he’d also been suspended after a series of posts in defence of the former Sun journalist.
GB News later confirmed it had “ended its employment relationship with Laurence Fox and Calvin Robinson”, adding an “internal investigation into Dan Wootton continues”.
John Cleese recently admitted he is struggling to get guests to agree to appear on his new 10-part series for GB News.
Discussing the show last week with Michelle Dewberry on the channel, he said: “I want to discuss woke issues on The Dinosaur Hour and we couldn’t get people on. One woman said, ‘it’s wrong even to discuss it’. In other words, they just want us to accept all their ideas and they’re not prepared to discuss them.”
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV1.