GB News star joins rival channel after brutal axe

Last year, Mark Dolan was among the presenters to be affected by GB News' major shake-up, which saw his evening talk show brutally axed. The bombshell announcement, which also impacted former Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg and broadcaster Isabel Webster, was met with harsh criticism from viewers as well as Dolan, who took to X to confirm his abrupt departure and reveal that he had presented his final show. After stating: "I will speak publicly about this in due course," the host later revealed: "Let me tell you that leaving GB News was not my choice. I was fired. It took minutes. But let me tell you, they did it nicely."

In December, Dolan announced his self-titled show would air on YouTube, but seven months later, it was confirmed that he would return to screens on GB News' rival programme, TalkTV. TalkTVUpdates's X account shared: "Mark Dolan makes a return to The Home of Common Sense, taking reigns of The Political Asylum, Monday - Thursday 19:00 - 22:00 next week."

They added: "Kev [Kevin O'Sullivan] will be sitting in for Julia [Hartley-Brewer] 10:00 - 13:00 All Week."

Dolan's TalkTV news was met with excitement from viewers, including one who exclaimed: "Excellent news, should never have left."

A second shared: "Excellent news," to which another simply echoed: "Brilliant!" While one fan remarked: "Kevin following on from Mike Graham. The handovers should be good. Now to do the papers between 09.30 - 10.00."

Dolan was previously at Talkradio, famously fronted the Channel 4 show Balls of Steel, and presented documentary series The World's ...And Me.

An insider addressed Dolan's axe and said: "Mark's viewing figures were not good." They added: "Isabel was too woke and not on message.

The changes also impacted Rees-Mogg's, as the news channel announced that he would now only be hosting his show two days a week rather than four.

Following his GB News departure, Dolan acknowledged that thousands of people expressed their anger at what had happened as he thanked them for their support.

He then went on to offer a surprising thanks to his former team: "I want to thank GB News' bold and visionary management, and I want to thank my brilliant production team on Mark Dolan Tonight for the extraordinary amount of hard work that they put into every programme.

"Let me tell you I have made friends for life - cherished friendships. And that is a wonderful thing."