Hislop: 'Merton never liked Deayton'

Rex Features

Ian Hislop has said that he used to get on with Angus Deayton but fellow Have I Got News For You panellist Paul Merton never liked the host.

Speaking on BBC Four programme Mark Lawson Talks To, he revealed why they both forced Deayton from the show after tabloid allegations regarding his personal life.

Lawson said: "It's often said that you never got on with him from the beginning, you and Paul, that there was always some kind of resentment or spikiness. Is that true?"

Hislop replied: "No. I mean, I think it's certainly true of Paul. He didn't ever like him. He was very upfront about it. I mean, I did quite like him and I got on quite well with him.

"He was perfectly civilised, until the big break-up obviously. I'm not top of his Christmas card list any more, for reasons I can understand."

Hislop added that the time to force Deayton from the job came when Christine Hamilton could take the "moral high ground" against him after he referred to her husband as a "disgraced" former Tory MP.