Joe Lycett has confessed that walking off Steph's Packed Lunch yesterday was a prank he was playing for a good cause.
The comedian had appeared on C4's show Steph's Packed Lunch to campaign against the use of coloured PET plastic in bottles.
Coloured plastic like this is very hard to recycle. But during a segment about his garden, presenter Steph McGovern spotted a bottle of Yop, a yoghurt drink that is made from the very material that Joe was complaining about.
There was tension in the air when Joe responded angrily, "I didn’t realise I was on Newsnight, Steph.”
It looked as if Steph didn't know if he was joking, and as he continued to look annoyed, she said: "Alright, Joe."
Joe then pulled off his microphone, and walked out of the studio after putting his microphone to one side.
But now he says his behaviour was just a joke.
Speaking on today's Steph's Packed Lunch, he revealed, "Soz, it wasn’t real! It was a stunt for a very good cause, I feel."
Steph explained that she had received several messages on social media as well as a text from her dad who was concerned about the comedian's hissy fit.
Joe responded, "Steph's dad, I'm not a horrible person! I was so gutted!"
Steph joked back, "I'll let him be the judge of that!"
The 32-year old comic, who also presents a consumer programme, Joe Lycett's Got Your Back for C4, explained more about why he'd chosen to pretend to be hurt and walk out – to gain publicity for his eco-friendly cause.
"We’ve seen Piers Morgan, we’ve seen Patsy Palmer, you storm off a chat show!"
As Steph revealed she's been in on the prank but most of her production team had been kept in the dark, Joe continued, "We deserve an Oscar."
"I’m being called thin-skinned and a hypocrite," he added. Steph confirmed that the pair had sent texts to each other last night, after witnessing the media storm. Joe had quipped, "It feels like I’m watching my own funeral."
He then joked, " I’ve cancelled myself!"
Bringing the conversation back to his recycling cause, Joe said, "I didn’t want to be horrible to you, it was really nerve-wracking. We managed to dupe more people that we expected to."
Earlier this morning, Joe posted a long message on Instagram, explaining himself further. He wrote: "Some of you might’ve seen or read that I had a ‘tantrum’ on Steph’s Packed Lunch yesterday and ‘stormed off’ the show. This is absolutely true. What you might not know is: I planned the whole thing."
He went on, "Clear PET plastic bottles are widely recycled and contribute to the circular economy.
"If you put a clear PET plastic bottle in the recycling there’s a good chance it will become another clear PET plastic bottle.
"Coloured and in particular white PET plastic bottles are much harder to recycle."
Referring to his appearance on TV, he added: "I explained this on Thursday’s show, but later a picture with a bottle (made with white PET plastic) appeared on screen.
"Steph pointed out my apparent hypocrisy and I KICKED OFF (by ‘KICKED OFF’ I mean ‘took my mic off and left the studio’).
"All of it was planned, all of it rehearsed. Today I seeded pictures of me drinking from one of these bottles which Greg James agreed to retweet. "
He ended the message by named the offending product, saying "The bottle in question? Yop.
"I risked my reputation as a jolly, affable and very-much-available chat show guest to say this as loud as I can: Yop, it’s time to stop using white PET plastic."
