Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
CUMMINGS TEXTED ME HIS SUPPORT.. IT WAS PEAK SURREAL
PM aide’s bizarre backing for Emily’s TV attack... on him
NEWSNIGHT host Emily Maitlis received a “surreal message of support” from Dominic Cummings after she slammed him on the show.
Boris Johnson’s chief adviser got in touch after the controversial remarks in May about his lockdown travels.
Maitlis told viewers he had “broken the rules” and “the country can see that, and it’s shocked the Government cannot”.
It was just after the Mirror revealed Cummings’ apparent lockdown breaches. Maitlis, 49, did not present the next Newsnight show after the BBC said she had broken impartiality guidelines. Talking about the text from Cummings, she said: “It was peak surreal getting a message of support from him in the middle of all the crazy stuff.” Maitlis added the public reaction to her remarks was the biggest she has ever received. She said: “I was overwhelmed; I wasn’t expecting such a flood of warmth.”
She also spoke of her close bond with Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan, describing him as
“incredibly loyal”. In an interview with Tatler magazine, Maitlis added: “I know if I was in prison, Piers Morgan would come and see me.
“I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but he’d be there.
“I like the fact I can have a row with him without it affecting our friendship.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had dinner with him without it ending in a massive row. I think that’s a good thing.”
Maitlis added Prince Andrew was happy with his calamitous Newsnight interview about his friendship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. She said she had not “grasped exactly” what was in the interview until she had finished.
The Mirror broke the story of Cummings having driven him and his family 260 miles during lockdown from his London home to stay at his parents’ property in Durham after he and his wife showed symptoms of Covid-19.
We also revealed he was spotted 30 miles away at Barnard Castle.
Cummings later held a press conference at No10 claiming he had driven from Durham to Barnard Castle to “test his eye sight”.
Maitlis was pictured in a hat and pencil skirt for the September issue of Tatler, out on Thursday.