During Channel 4’s coverage of the US election last night (November 5), Boris Johnson was “fired for banging on about his book”, according to the programme’s co-host Krishnan Guru-Murthy.

The former UK Prime Minister, who was on the show as a guest, was told off for holding up his memoir and plugging it just minutes into the live programme titled America Decides: US Presidential Election.

Channel 4 newsreader Guru-Murthy told Johnson to “put it away” and “stop it, enough” as he twice referenced his new book and attempted to hold it up to viewers.

Strictly star Guru-Murthy also described Johnson's actions as “so cheap”.

Johnson retorted: “There’s absolutely nothing you can do to stop me… I’m allowed to plug my book.”

Later during the panel discussion, Johnson said he met with Donald Trump after his attempted assassination in July.

“In case I failed to mention this, I am promoting my book Unleashed, and I had a talk with him about Ukraine,” he said.

When asked about following in Trump’s footsteps regarding a political comeback, Johnson said: “The answer is obviously contained in Unleashed where you’ll find the full discussion of this subject.”

Co-host Emily Maitlis told him: “We are not all going to read your book, so just tell us, do you want to have a political comeback…. You can’t actually answer a single question.”

Johnson responded: “By the way Emily I’ve answered all your questions all night. Currently I am blissfully engaged promoting my book Unleashed, available in all good book stores.”

After being challenged, Johnson claimed: “Here is Channel 4 news, run by Ian Katz, sitting here doing the same old stunt that you tried in 2004 taking a massively skewed approach to a US election.

“I’m not standing for election here.”

Later in the programme, Johnson was replaced on the Channel 4 panel by Michael Cohen – who served as a lawyer to Trump.

Guru-Murphy told viewers: “Boris Johnson has been fired for banging on about his book.”

Recommended reading:

Channel 4 has confirmed Johnson’s exit was planned and the ‘fired’ comment was a joke.

The 60-year-old had been promoting his new memoir titled Unleashed after it was released last month.

The 784-page book looks back on Johnson’s time as Prime Minister – from 2019 to 2022 – including Brexit and the Covid pandemic.