Sophie Willian says the show bullied tragic star

It’s been almost 30 years, but Sophie Willian says she still refuses to watch Have I Got News For You for the way they treated Paula Yates.

The creator of Alma’s Not​ Normal says the BBC One panel show ‘bullied Yates so viciously’ that she still cannot watch the programme.

The late Big Breakfast host clashed with Ian Hislop on the show in 1995, with the Private Eye editor mocking her for having breast implants, for writing a ‘rubbish’ autobiography and for her relationship with IXS rocker Michael Hutchence.

During the tense exchange, Yates says: 'Ian, please stop being unkind’, as Hislop argues she has little right to privacy because she courted media attention.

Paul Merton later said he was 'surprised' by his co-star’s 'anger' towards Yates, which he believes 'took her by surprise'. 

On the show, he told Hislop to back off as he would otherwise take ‘great pleasure thumping my fist into that great face of yours’.

Merton also said that after the recording, Yates and Hutchence visited his dressing room, and Yates told him: 'Thank you for looking after me.'

The  clip resurfaced in a Channel 4 documentary last year, which examined how Yates, who died at 41 following a heroin overdose in 2001, was portrayed in the media after the breakdown of her marriage to Bob Geldof.

Willian’s attitude to the show was revealed in a Q&A with the Radio Times today to promote the return of Alma's Not Normal.

Asked if there was any TV she turns off, the comic, above, said: ‘I still won’t watch Have I Got News For You. They bullied Paula Yates so viciously and it’s still the same people and still the same culture. It’s not for me.’

Published: 2 Oct 2024