GB News read out messages from ‘Mike Hunt’ and ‘Mike Oxlong’ – and Twitter loved it

GB News has officially been rinsed as the new kid on the block after its viewers apparently played some old-school pranks on its presenters.

Like all current affairs channels, the “anti-woke” arrival – which launched to much fanfare on Sunday – has been taking call-ins from members of the public, but it seems not everyone’s been giving their real name.

Of course, there must be some genuine “Mike Hunt”s and “Mike Oxlong”s out there. But to have both names read out on live television within a couple of hours of each other seems like a little more than just coincidence.

(If anyone is confused about why those names might be fake, just read them aloud a couple of times…)

Former BBC newsreader Simon McCoy and his co-host Alex Philips were well into their afternoon show on Tuesday when the first alleged hoax was played.

Philips was discussing important issues surrounding children’s diets and complications related to obesity, when she declared that viewer “Mike Oxlong” had written in to back up her concerns.

Just a couple of hours later, former ‘Apprentice’ winner Michelle Dewberry was leading her own segment titled ‘What matters to you?’ when a man ostensibly called Mike Hunt wrote in to talk about children’s toys.

Neither presenter, nor their colleagues, seemed to register the alleged tricks at the time, but we’re pretty sure they know about them now.

The two clips soon went viral on Twitter, as users delighted in the childish practical jokes:

Later, the presenting duo responded to these calls and used their next afternoon show to tell their viewers to “grow up” and have said they will no longer be reading out people’s surnames, just in case they are duped again.

McCoy said: “Grow up. We’re a new company, we’re a new broadcaster, there are systems that we are putting in to stop idiots that would stop idiots like you from getting through. They’re getting through at the moment but, please, we’ve got other things to worry about.”

At least they’ve learned their lesson early on: read out names in your head before proudly declaring them, if you can.