The sarcasm and stunts of jeering Joe

EVEN before the cameras started rolling, Joe Lycett set the tone for his appearance on the BBC’s new flagship politics show, tweeting: ‘Really excited to be on this new version of Would I Lie To You.’

And the 34-year-old stand-up comic continued in this sarcastic vein, as he responded to Tory leadership favourite Liz Truss’s interview by loudly clapping, cheering and shouting ‘Fantastic, Liz’.

After Miss Truss’s grilling on Laura Kuenssberg’s new show yesterday, he mockingly told the presenter – deadpan – that he is ‘actually very Right-wing and I loved it’.

Lycett is known for his playful and sardonic brand of comedy, and is no stranger to a stunt. He once stormed off the set of Channel 4 magazine show Steph’s Packed Lunch during a segment on recycling. It was later revealed to be an act to highlight environmental issues.

And, in his role as presenter of consumer affairs show Got Your Back, Lycett legally changed his name to Hugo Boss to annoy the fashion house, which he accused of bullying smaller businesses.

The Brummie comedian, who hosted the BBC’s Great British Sewing Bee, has been critical of the Government in the past. Introducing a group of athletes during the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony in Birmingham in July, he said: ‘I’m going to do something now that the British Government doesn’t always do, and welcome some foreigners, this time from the region of Asia.’