Andrew Neil: It would’ve killed me to carry on

Neil dishes the dirt, and boy is it dirty!

Former GB news frontman Andrew Neil has spoken out about his woes regarding the fledgling news channel, and let's just say it wasn't easy sailing. "I came close to a breakdown," says Neil, crying according to the Daily Mail. https://twitter.com/afneil/status/1441505285093433344 After just a week at GB News, Andrew Neil had decided to pack it in. The show faced numerous technical disasters, constant trolling, and boycotts from businesses and the general public alike. Though many, including myself, instantly connected GB News with America's FOX, Neil rebukes the idea that they set out to be a carbon copy. But with the introduction of Nigel Farage back in July, everyone knew GB News was desperate to fill the void left by Neil. "It just got worse and worse. At one stage, we were waiting to go on air and the whole system went down. It had to be rebooted and we only managed it with 15 seconds to spare," Neil tells the Mail's, Rebecca Hardy. https://twitter.com/BBCwaste/status/1441514121267236866 "By the end of that first week, I knew I had to get out. It was really beginning to affect my health. I wasn't sleeping. I was waking up at two or three in the morning." He continues, saying he didn't care about the £4m contract: "This would have killed me if I'd carried on." A spokesperson for GB News also spoke to the Daily Mail, disagreeing with Neil's lengthy statement. "At no point did Andrew raise concerns of the editorial direction of GB News moving to the right. As with all companies, decision-making rests with the board, and GB News is no different. https://twitter.com/JSPrice_media/status/1441534077971148804 "As a member of the board, Andrew had the same rights and abilities to raise concerns, and he was privy to all decisions." "Why pay me all that money? Why make me chairman?" Neil continues. "Why make me lead presenter and then just not listen? So I'm angry that what should have been my last big media gig – which, if we'd made it work, could have been great – turned out to be the worst eight months of my career." https://twitter.com/afneil/status/1441528769999773699 But if Neil's GB News was what they deemed 'unbiased' and 'centrist' then whatever eye-rolling content comes next might just turn the show into the UK's FOX after all.

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