Angus Deayton

Gordon Angus Deayton (born January 6, 1956) is a British comic actor and television presenter. In October 2002 he was sacked as presenter of the satirical panel game Have I Got News For You after a second round of tabloid revelations about his personal life.

Brought up in Surrey, Deayton showed early promise as a footballer, and had a trial with Crystal Palace. A sporting career was not to be, and he read languages at New College, Oxford, where he was recruited into a sarirical revue for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. This led to the creation of the satirical band the Hee Bee Gee Bees in about 1980.

The foundation of Deayton's career was the comedy Radio Active on BBC Radio 4 between 1981 and 1987, which he both wrote and performed in. It transferred to television as KYTV between 1989 and 1993. 1990 was a busy year for Deayton as he was also cast as the Meldrews' neighbour Patrick Trench in One Foot in the Grave and was selected as the host of the show that would make him a household name, Have I Got News For You.

Deayton's suave manner as host of HIGNFY and a tabloid kiss-and-tell story by an ex-girlfriend led to him being nicknamed "TV's Mr Sex" in around 1993. He was much in demand as a presenter of television specials including the BBC's New Year's Eve show and the BAFTA Awards. He also featured in a series of advertisements for credit cards.

In May 2002 he was embarrassed by tabloid revelations of a relationship with a prostitute and cocaine use, and his salary was reduced by the BBC. In October there were further reports of a long-standing affair, and he was "asked to step down" as presenter of HIGNFY on October 29. The BBC said his position as a satirical commentator on the week's news had become "untenable", though some commentators suggested that as his position was essentially that of an actor reading a script he should have been allowed to continue.

He continues to work on other projects including a new episode of Radio Active which is in production for broadcast in December 2002.