ITV Nigel Farage: Politician accuses TV boss Kevin Lygo of trying to 'make life quite unpleasant' during 'I'm a Celeb'

Nigel Farage has accused ITV of “pathetic attempts to stitch me up” as he returned to GB News after coming third in this year's 'I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!'.

He called out Kevin Lygo, managing director of media and entertainment, after discovering he had made a series of jokes about him during an ITV event last month. At first, Farage, who was reportedly paid £1.5 million to appear on the reality show, did not name Lygo. He said: “It seems while I was in there one or two people at the top of ITV were doing their best to make life quite unpleasant for me,” Farage said as he returned to host his live show from Australia’s Gold Coast.

But, then he challenged Lygo directly when he said: “I don’t want to spoil the glow that I have after doing 'I’m A Celebrity' and I have no criticism at all of the production team but I would say to Mr Kevin Lygo, the boss of ITV: It’s up to you mate. If you want to go to war with me you really can.” Farage, aged 59, went on to reference his dispute with former Natwest chief Dame Alison Rose, who was forced to resign in July after she was found to have discussed Farage’s relationship with the bank.

“Look what happened to her,” he said. “I am prepared to ignore your rude, one-handed gesture, the pathetic attempt by some of your staff to stitch me up. I’m prepared to forget all of it if we can call a truce. But if you really, really want to go to war with me, I don’t think it will do ITV’s share price an awful lot of good.”

The issue arose after Lygo spoke on stage in front of a group of advertisers to promote ITV’s forthcoming shows last month. He referred to the sign language interpreter who was on stage with him and said: “I don’t know any sign language, I just know the sign for Nigel Farage”. He then made the “one-handed” gesture. He went on to tell the audience that “the only problem with voting [Farage] out is that he has to come back” and compared his appearance to that of the former health secretary Matt Hancock, who was a contestant on the show last year and also ended up coming third. His time on the show became the second most-complained about TV event of last year. “We can do better than that,” said Lygo.

A scene in which the 'EastEnders' actress Danielle Harold and 'This Morning' presenter Josie Gibson reacted to seeing Farage’s bare bottom while he was showering is also said to have upset the politician.

ITV insiders have denied that Farage was treated any differently to any other contestant on the show. “It’s all a lot of noise,” said one executive. “We were definitely no tougher on him than the others.” Another added that the producer’s sole motivation was to show the most entertaining moments that took place. The final episode was viewed by 6.5 million viewers.