Deayton faces the axe

TV host Angus Deayton could be axed from satirical show Have I Got News For You in a crunch meeting this week, it was reported today.

The presenter was recently the subject of further allegations about his private life and was repeatedly ribbed about his antics on Friday’s show.

Now TV chiefs are to meet to decide his future, the BBC reported today.

Allegations about his private life surfaced earlier this year about drug use and an affair with a prostitute, behind the back of his partner Lise Meyer.

He was barracked by regular panelists Ian Hislop and Paul Merton, who wore a T-shirt with a copy of a newspaper front page which ran the story.

It was thought he may have soured his relationship with the BBC, but BBC1 controller Lorraine Heggessey gave him her backing in August.

She said then: “His private life is his private life. He more than got his comeuppance on Have I Got News For You. In a way it was more difficult for him to do the show than not do the show.”

Heggessey added: “We’ll see how it goes.”

But the pressure has built again after further stories saw him squirming on the show last week.

However the BBC today refused to comment on whether any meetings about Deayton’s future were even scheduled.