Jim Davidson now runs his own TV channel UStreme (Image: Andy Stenning/Reach)
Comedian Jim Davidson has claimed he wrote to the head of GB News to enquire if the channel was for sale as his own TV station UStreme goes from strength to strength. The 71-year-old TV legend set up UStreme during the Covid lockdowns when he was unable to perform, and has now become a fully fledged TV service running both original programmes and classic shows and comedy sketches that can't be found anywhere else.
Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk ahead of recording the 500th episode of his show This Week, where he gives his unique take on the world and current affairs, he admitted he thought GB News would go "hand in hand" with his TV station. He told us: "I don't want us (Ustreme) to be a right wing commentating channel. GB news has unfairly been branded a right wing news channel and it's not.
READ MORE: Jim Davidson hits out at Starmer and the BBC
The comedian admitted he offered to "buy GB News" (Image: Publicity Picture)
"I wrote to the boss of GB news and I said, 'You know, what UStreme should buy you. Are you for sale? Because we could really turn you into a comedy programme - because they seem to look at the mad side of the news as well, especially in the evening programmes.
"And I love GB news, and I love the presenters and I thought, 'Well, we could sit hand in hand here'. The news just it writes itself [at the moment]. It's the best comedy writer that Britain has," he quipped. Express.co.uk has contacted GB News for comment.
After years of working for the BBC presenting huge shows such as The Generation Game and Big Break, Jim now makes editorial decisions and oversees programming alongside his presenting work. This is despite initial panic that he wouldn't "be able to do this (his show) once a week or twice a week" due to the pressure of creating material.
However, world events have ensured he has plenty to comment on, and the channel is going from strength to strength. He admits: "It really is exhausting. I do two hours those days (his show), and when I come off, I feel like I've been in the ring with Mike Tyson but it is exciting," he enthused.
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When asked if he was worried taking such a huge step as setting up his own station could be detrimental to his mainstream career he acknowledged that "there were certain consequences."
He went on: "But the tour (his stand up tour) is the best business I've ever done. My mainstream career is over. Apart from if you look at Channel Five. They did a documentary about me a while ago, and they've repeated it twice now because these ratings are so good.
"Would I step back into mainstream? Well, come on, every girl has a price, doesn't she?" he quipped. However, despite the workload and responsibility, for now, Jim is happy being the proud owner of a TV channel where he calls the shots. "I see myself now as now as an extremely attractive elderly man who is a TV executive and entrepreneur. If I was Russian, you'd be calling me an oligarch," he laughed.
