ANDREW Neil could be set to return to the BBC after an underwhelming stint at GB News, according to reports.
Neil, the chairman of the right-wing political magazine The Spectator, held talks with BBC director-general Tim Davie about making a return, according to The Times.
The discussions followed Neil stepping down from GB News in inglorious fashion after a reported spat with the channel’s top brass over the direction it was being taken.
READ MORE: Andrew Neil humiliated in tense Question Time exchange over GB News 'dog whistles'
Neil said he had not been allowed to have the input and influence he would have liked and that the channel was heading towards a Fox News-model of broadcasting, something he had previously denied would happen.
Neil was reportedly so angry at Angelos Frangopoulos, the former head of Sky News Australia and current boss of GB News, that he couldn’t even say his name aloud.
The Times reported that no job offer was made to have Neil back at the BBC, and the return is not likely to be imminent.
How Neil’s return could fit within the BBC’s impartiality guidelines is unclear given his outspoken political views.
However, one source told The Times that hiring Neil could actually help the corporation’s credentials as he “was the token right-winger at the BBC”.
“There’s always been an argument that Davie’s error in allowing him to leave could only be rectified by his return,” they added.
Neil quit the BBC in September 2020, writing on Twitter at the time: “With heavy heart I announce I will be leaving the BBC.
"Despite sterling efforts by new [director-general] to come up with other programming opportunities, it could not quite repair damage done when Andrew Neil Show cancelled early summer."
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