NEIL Oliver will be joining the new television channel GB News, it has been announced.

The television presenter will host a new weekly current affairs and interview programme.

Oliver’s show will focus on “the people from all walks of life who make Britain great”, according to the announcement put out by GB News.

The author claimed that debate in the UK had been “stifled” and that the new channel “feels like opening a window and letting in some fresh air”.

The channel, which is due to launch later this year, is chaired by former BBC journalist Andrew Neil.

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In its press release, GB News said the move marked a “further move towards news commentary” for the Coast presenter.

Commenting on joining GB News, Oliver said: "My career has always been driven by my fascination about people, whether it's trying to understand ancient people through archaeology or living ones through journalism.

"Debate in this country has been stifled for so long that GB News feels like opening a window and letting some fresh air, fresh perspectives and fresh voices.

"I never imagined my career would take this turn but I'm hugely excited that it has."

Oliver echoed that final sentiment sharing the news with his Twitter followers. He wrote simply: “Exciting times.”

The archaeologist joins former Guido Fawkes and Telegraph writer Tom Harwood, former ITV news presenter Alastair Stewart, and former Sky News presenter Colin Brazier on the GB News team.

The channel will target Conservative-leaning audiences.

Neil will present a nightly news programme on the channel containing “Wokewatch” and “Mediawatch” segments, but insisted GB News will conform to Ofcom rules on impartiality.

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Critics have said the channel will aim to capitalise on the “culture wars” in the UK, offering comparisons to Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News in the US.

Figures at GB News, including Neil, have rejected the comparison. They say the channel will be aimed at the “vast number of British people who feel underserved and unheard” by the existing media in the UK.

Oliver was the president of the National Trust for Scotland until he stepped down in September 2020.

Although the presenter claimed he had always planned to step down at that time, the announcement came just days after he was embroiled in a scandal involving fellow TV personality David Starkey.

In an interview with Vote Leave’s Darren Grimes, the historian said that slavery “was not genocide otherwise there wouldn’t be so many damn blacks in Africa or Britain”.

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Oliver had previously commented that he “loved” Starkey on a promotional tweet sent before the controversial interview aired.

He was also found to have “liked” another post which was widely seen as being anti-Black Lives Matter.

Former ITV man and Oliver’s GB News colleague Alastair Stewart left his original broadcaster due to “errors of judgement in [his] use of social media” which “breached” their editorial guidelines.

The news was linked to a scandal surrounding a tweet in which Stewart had appeared to compare a black man to an “angry ape”.