Entertainment
Charlie Brooker’s ‘antichrist’ jibes left Nicky Campbell in bed with depression for days
Nicky opened up on comments made by Charlie over his career (Picture: Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images)
BBC Radio 5 Live’s Nicky Campbell has slammed Charlie Brooker, claiming comments from the Black Mirror creator left him in bed for two days.
The TV presenter recalled being the centre of ‘really vicious’ comments from satirist Charlie Brooker, which he said left him at a ‘low ebb’ as he suffered depression.
Campbell, 60, known for his work on TV shows including Watchdog and Long Lost Family, was described as ‘the Antichrist’ in a 2004 newspaper column written by Brooker, 50.
He had penned Campbell might be ‘the most evil man in the universe’, and added: ‘There’s no evidence to support this, but come on — there’s just something about him, isn’t there?’
Also, in an episode of Screenwipe, Brooker’s review show broadcast on BBC Four, he featured a recap of Campbell’s career set to satanic music.
Brooker also took aim in a 2009 episode of You Have Been Watching: ‘According to the Guinness Book of Records [Campbell is] the world’s biggest a***hole, and the smuggest p**ck, and the smarmiest t*t, and the sh***iest berk and the sombrest w*** and the littlest hobo and — you know what, f*** it, I just don’t like the man, it’s that simple.’
Campbell said these jibes took a terrible toll on him.
Charlie is yet to publicly respond to Nicky’s comments (Picture: Eric Charbonneau/Rex)
Speaking on the My Time Capsule podcast, he said he has suffered from ‘terrible depression’ since he was a teenager and has been diagnosed as having bipolar disorder type 2.
Scottish BBC radio presenter Campbell said Brooker, known for his acerbic wit, ‘really took against me’.
After praising Brooker’s writing skills, Campbell said: ‘But I came off the air one day, I was at a really low ebb, and we had a text on the air, saying, “Charlie Brooker really gave you the full treatment last night.” I thought: “What’s that?” I went home and watched it.
‘It was a kind of comedy show, and he just laid into me. He had a string of insults and that really hit me. Kind of: He’s right, he’s right. I don’t deserve to be here and he’s rumbled me — he’s got me. And I don’t really know who I am and he’s sussed it out.
‘He’s like pointing the finger and everyone’s laughing.’
Campbell said he spent two days in bed after hearing the remarks, adding: ‘It sent me into a really, really low ebb and I was suffering at the time, badly, anyway.
‘Of course, I can take people having a go and having a bit of craic and insulting you, it goes with the game. But this was visceral. Really, really visceral and really vicious and really horrible.’
More: BBC
Campbell said if Brooker, who is married to TV presenter Konnie Huq, made the comments on social media today, people would think he was ‘some weirdo in a flat somewhere, some keyboard warrior’.
He added: ‘We’ve got to be very, very careful about that sort of thing in the public space.’
Metro.co.uk contacted reps of Brooker for comment.
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