Tetley’s beast to scrap with the chimps

Kelvin Mackenzie, the man who foisted the News Bunny on a puzzled world during his reign at Live TV, has a new furry friend.

But the 8ft tall lion will not be taking an active role in Talk Radio’s news and current affairs output. Unlike the bunny, which was “played” by a succession of embarrassed Live TV employees, Kelvin’s latest cuddly pal is manned by a team of “animal actors”.

The beast, which, curiously, doesn’t appear to have a name, belongs to the brewing giant Tetley, which is sponsoring the station’s Rugby World Cup coverage.

Simon Lewis, account manager at Tetley’s PR agency Capitalize, says: “Tetley didn’t want to give the lion a name in case it became detached from the brand. It’s just called the Tetley lion. Kelvin would probably have liked it if we’d named it after him.”