Dara O Briain denies Frankie Boyle was fired from hit BBC show

Boyle sparked protest in the UK after he said of the swimmer: “She’s like someone who’s looking at themselves in the back of a spoon.”
When he subsequently didn’t appear on the final episode of the current series, it was rumoured that he’d been fired because of the Adlington joke. However, speaking to Hot Press’s Olaf Tyaransen, O Briain denied that this was the case, claiming that – while he probably wouldn’t be returning to Mock The Week - Boyle actually couldn’t appear because of stress-related chest pains.
“Yes, he had to [go], yeah. It’s only his own thing. I think he was just exhausted from doing it, because Frankie did it at a very intense pitch. He had been doing it very intensely for about seven series now. And Frankie went in there tooled up, as you can tell from the record, and the broadcast. Even watching the record. He has a million things he wants to say when he does Mock The Week. And it’s very intense.
“His family is up in Glasgow, he could only do the show when was in London, and he hadn’t seen his little one for a little while, so it all added up to just him being ready to do something else instead. I don’t think he is a natural show business person, Frankie. That’s one of his charms. He’s a lovely fella, and he’s quiet and, you know, he will surprise you by getting in contact with you, or you’ll see him and he’ll have remembered your child’s birthday. That kind of stuff, like. He’s a decent guy.
“But he has a whole other life outside [of comedy] that he wants to focus on, and I think he has found it. You know, he has done well enough. Now, unfortunately for him, he then had a stress-related chest pain on the last show, which meant that he didn’t do the last show. He’s fine now, but people will associate that, and also I’ve seen someone Tweet, ‘Oh, he got fired because of the Rebecca Adlington jokes’. So, the tweeting will percolate into truth.
“He’s a smart guy – we’ll miss him.”
You can read the full Dara O Briain interview in the next issue of Hot Press. As for Frankie Boyle, he's confirmed May 25 and 26 visits to Vicar St. with his charmingly-titled I Would Happily Punch Every One Of You In The Face tour.