Sandi on why she didn't host Have I Got News For You

Sandi Toksvig says she was turned down as host of Have I Got News For You – just because she was a woman.

She tells today's Radio Times that the BBC made two pilot episodes of the topical quiz before it made it to air in 1990 – one with her and one with Angus Deayton.

But she claims they went with Deayton just because he was a man.

'I was told by the producers that they preferred my version, but the channel decided they couldn't have a woman in charge,' she told the magazine.

Toksvig added the decision angered her but also 'made me feel inadequate and question whether I was really up to it'.

And making reference to the 2002 scandal that cost Deayton his job, she added: 'I would not have been caught with either prostitutes or cocaine, so… possibly I would have been a better bet in the long run.'

It took Toksvig 11 years to get her own topical panel show m when she took over Radio 4's News Quiz from Simon Hoggart. She is now standing down to campaign for the new Women's Equality party, which plans to field candidates in the 2020 general election.

News Quiz and QI creator John Lloyd, hosted the original pilot of Have I Got News For You – when it was going to be called John Lloyd's Newsround – but ruled himself out of presenting the show full time. He told the Guardian that Toksvig's departure was a 'national tragedy'.

He added: 'We used to complain how difficult it was finding enough women to fill panel games but in the last, I would say, less than five years, that has turned completely on its heads. There is a raft of incredibly good female comics out there.'

A BBC spokesperson said: 'We're proud of the fact that the BBC of today has a huge range of women presenters.' Then listed some.

Published: 16 Jun 2015