Democracy will be under threat if politicians like Nigel Farage avoid proper scrutiny by presenting their own TV shows, according to Sky News presenter Sophy Ridge.
The award-winning anchor said there was a danger that political figures will use the freedom to broadcast “unchallenged” on GB News to evade serious questioning about their views from trained journalists.
Ridge has invited Farage, who has his own GB News hour, to submit himself to a grilling on the revamped Sky News breakfast show that she will present from Monday.
She is joining forces with rising star Wilfred Frost, son of Sir David Frost, to breathe new life into the early slot previously held by Sky veteran Kay Burley.
Their immediate task is to launch a fightback against GB News, the opinion-led station mocked for its chaotic launch in 2021 and meagre viewing figures, which is now beating Sky and the BBC News Channel in the ratings across breakfast and evenings.
An increasingly influential TV force, often favouring right-wing views, GB News, which boasts it is now “Britain’s number one news channel”, poses an existential threat to the 36-year-old Sky News.
Ridge, named Presenter of the Year at the 2025 RTS Journalism awards, for mixing “disarming toughness with huge likeability”, hopes to wrench back the daily agenda with tough but fair big-name breakfast interviews.
Sophy Ridge believes politicians shouldn’t be allowed to evade tough interviews (Photo: Sky News)“Farage should come on our show,” she said. “I believe very strongly that politicians should do interviews with challenging interviewers.
“There is more of an opportunity now for politicians to broadcast unchallenged. That’s fine, as long as long as you put yourself forward for the 15-minute grilling by people like ourselves.”
Ofcom has backed away from plans to block politicians from acting as news presenters after a backlash from channels including GB News.
Ridge said: “I’m worried that if we go too far down that [politician presenters] route then they are going to say, ‘Well, why should I do this interview when someone is going to ask me about the minutiae of my budget proposals?’ We need to make sure we protect that space for our democracy.”
A former presenter of Sky’s flagship Sunday politics programme, Ridge warned: “We’ll be in a really bad place if we just have party political broadcasts because it’s the interview, that challenge on policy, that’s the most important thing.”
She added: “We won’t criticise GB News journalists”, to which Frost chipped in, “but we do intend to beat them”.
That’s the kind of fighting talk Sky News bosses want to hear. The channel has an annual budget of £100m but is thought to be making losses of as much as £80m.
US owner Comcast has guaranteed to keep funding the channel until 2028 but the future will depend on the success of a pivot away from rolling news, towards revenue-generating podcasts and newsletters.
Mornings with Ridge and Frost will also be available as a quickfire news digest podcast which will tap into Sky’s network of political correspondents and international reporters – a resource its presenters say GB News cannot match.
Its success will also depend on whether the presenters display the kind of fizzy chemistry that successful breakfast shows rely on.
There will be plenty of “unscripted banter” between the pair, promises Frost, who said: “We’re a team. The most rewarding thing in work is when you sink and swim as a team together.”
Ridge has presented the Sunday morning politics slot once owned by Wilfred Frost’s father, David (Photo: Sky News)They also hope to lure viewers from BBC Breakfast, recently riven by reports of a feud between presenter Naga Munchetty and editor Richard Frediani. ”Audiences are smart. They can sniff out if there’s tension or a lack of authenticity,” said Ridge.
The 41-year-old began her career at the News of the World and switched to broadcasting in 2011 just before the phone-hacking scandal that closed the Murdoch-owned tabloid.
Having battled sexism and social media abuse over the years, she said: “I do think social media companies should do a bit more to protect people.
“You need a thick skin and a belief in what you’re doing. I do get abuse like many other female presenters and male presenters too.”
The new show starts Monday 3 NovemberThe parliamentary lobby was “quite a lonely place for me as a female journalist when I first started”, she added. “People often mistook me for the make-up artist. When I came to Labour conference, someone who’s now quite a senior Labour politician, who I’m not going to name, thought I was the weather girl.”
“You effing showed them, RTS presenter of the year,” interjected Frost gallantly. “I’m looking forward to hearing who that politician was.”
“He talks to me all the time now,” Ridge said, still protecting his identity.
Ridge, who is “geeky and passionate” about politics, says she won’t be afraid to speak out on issues she feels are overlooked.
“Maternal healthcare is an absolute travesty in this country, to be honest,” Ridge, who has two children, said. “It’s something I feel really strongly about. The aftercare in that month after you’ve given birth is absolutely not good enough and it needs to change.”
Expect a combative exchange when the Health Secretary appears then. “If I feel strongly about these things, then a lot of our audience will feel strongly about them too.”
Mornings with Ridge and Frost is on Sky News, 7am-10am, from Monday 3 November
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