Joe Lycett invites Liz Truss to a Birmingham for a special reason

Joe Lycett’s first chat show - Late Night Lycett on Channel 4 - will be coming live from Digbeth tonight (Friday, March 31).

The Brummie comedian has got a stellar guest list featuring actor Joanna Lumley, fellow Brummie TV presenter Alison Hammond and Canadian comedian Katherine Ryan.

But it seems that this is not enough for Joe - there’s a special person that he is missing from his guest line up. And in his own inimitable way he has extended an invitation to former Prime Minister Liz Truss - by taking out a full page ad to invite her onto his new show in her local newspaper, the Eastern Daily Press in South West Norfolk.

Joe styled himself as a ‘true Liz Truss fan’ during her 49 days at no 10 Downing Street, calling himself a "rightwing comedian and passionate Liz Truss supporter".

It all began after he appeared on Laura Kuenssberg’s inaugural BBC politics show - the day before Truss was announced as the new PM.

His letter reads: “I hope you’re not too surprised to see me popping my head out from between the sheets (of your local regional newspaper tehe!!),” Joe began.

“It’s me, rightwing comedian and passionate Liz Truss supporter Joe Lycett. You’ll remember me from when we met last year on the TV show of our mutual friend Laura Kuenssberg (I’m sure it was the most significant event of your 2022 – just a joke!!!)

“Now I know that you haven’t had the easiest few months, and I just want to reassure you of my 100% continued support. I’ll be honest, Liz – I miss you. Not just in Downing Street, but from my life. In the brief time we worked together, I felt like we struck up the kind of connection and rapport you get with all the great double acts like Ant and Dec or Holly and Phil (you’d be Phil).”

He continued: “So I’ve spent the last few months plotting your route back to power and I think I’ve found the first ideal step. I’ve got a new live TV show starting 31 March at 10pm on Channel 4 (thanks to your successor accidentally forgetting to abolish it) and I would love for you to join us. We’d give you a platform, allow you to speak your mind and provide at least three glasses of Echo Falls Pinot Grigio.

“To thrash out the deets, drop me a line at [email protected] I look forward to hearing from you,” Joe added, before signing off with “deepest sympathies”.

There’s no word as of yet whether Truss has taken up the comic’s invitation. But you can see Alison Hammond, Joanna Lumley and Katherine Ryan on the first episode of his new talk show, which is being broadcast live from The Bond in Digbeth.

Late Night Lycett launches on Friday at 10pm on Channel 4.