MP Heidi Allen has reached out to the BBC for an explanation, after an episode of Have I Got News For You which she filmed was pulled from schedules shortly before it was due to air.
The BBC pulled Friday night's edition of Have I Got News For You from BBC One minutes before it was scheduled to air, with the show confirming the news on Twitter . HIGNFY normally airs Friday nights at 9pm on the channel, with the latest edition set to be no different.
But just as the show was set to come on, viewers tuned in and noticed the series had been replaced with fellow panel show Would I Lie to You? instead, then followed by Mrs Brown's Boys.
Heidi herself responded to the axing, appearing to not be entirely sure herself about the sudden decision.
Have I Got News For You mysteriously pulled by BBC minutes before broadcast
Asking for an explanation, amid claims it was due to the show airing so close to the Euro elections, she pointed out that fellow MP Nigel Farage had appeared on the show close to political elections in the past.
She shared a tweet from viewers pinpointing the exact episode in which he appeared, with it confirmed his appearance came six weeks before elections in 2014.
Now, with it suggested her episode was culled due to the looming Euro elections, the MP hit out at the decision while confirming she had no idea the episode would be pulled.
She wrote: "Maybe I'm just not as funny as Nigel Farage eh hignfy haveigotnews !? He's so funny, he seems to be on the BBC all the time!
"An explanation would be appreciated, not least to acknowledge the hard work of the entire crew who worked diligently to put the show together."
Heidi also commented: "Really!????" in response to another Twitter user who wrote: "And of course Nigel Farage was on HIGNFY in April 2014, the month before the last European elections."
A statement was released by the BBC, reading: "The BBC has specific editorial guidelines that apply during election periods.
"Because of this it would be inappropriate to feature political party leaders on entertainment programmes during this short election period, which does not allow for equal representation to be achieved."
Half an hour before it was due to air, the official account of the BBC series confirmed the episode would be broadcast.
They went on to state the BBC had made the decision to pull the episode before it went to air.
The tweet read: “Sorry everyone. The BBC have pulled tonight’s edition of #HIGNFY - no, we didn’t book Danny Baker.
“We booked Heidi Allen, a member of a party no-one knows the name of (not even the people in it), because the Euro elections, which nobody wants, may or may not be happening. Sorry.”
Viewers were baffled by the decision, unsure why the channel wouldn't have known the rules, which led to the episode being dropped, prior to filming.
