'Didn't f***off to France' Dara Ó Briain blasts Andrew Neil’s ‘Mock The Week deserved axe'

express.co.uk:

Andrew Neil on Twitter after the journalist shared an article entitled that claimed Mock the Week "deserved to be axed”.The BBC programme's host Dara fired back at Andrew, referring to his short tenure with GB News.Yesterday, Andrew shared Patrick West’s Spectator article “Mock the Week deserved to be cancelled” in view of his 1.2 million followers.Soon afterwards, Dara responded: “Still, at least I didn’t bail on it after two weeks and f*** off to my house in France, eh Andrew?“All the best!” the presenter added with a sarcastic kiss.Despite being the lead presenter and chairman of the network GB News, Andrew took a leave of absence a fortnight after the channel launched in June of last year, quitting entirely after just eight months.The BBC announced this week that the comedy panel programme, Mock the Week, was ending after 17 yearsA BBC spokesperson stated: “The next series of Mock The Week will be the last.“We are really proud of the show but after 21 series we have taken the difficult decision in order to create room for new shows.”In light of the news, Dara quipped at the time: "That's it folks, the UK has finally run out of news."The storylines were getting crazier and crazier; Global pandemics, divorce from Europe, novelty short-term prime ministers.“It couldn’t go on,” he added.Mock The Week started in 2005 and Dara has been on the show throughout its long run.The show also features Hugh Dennis and a host of other high-profile comedians.As chairman of The Spectator, the article Andrew shared made the argument that Mock The Week was “well past its time” whilst also claiming that the BBC’s progressive decision in 2014 to no longer create all-male panel shows “compromised” its quality.Some of Dara’s fans flocked to.