Mike Graham has finally broken his silence after TalkTV announced his departure from the channel, where he previously presented its breakfast show. The broadcaster's exit came after a racist post appeared on his Facebook account, which he insisted was down to a hacker. Although the 65-year-old was initially suspended in October, they confirmed he would no longer return to the platform earlier this month. The Facebook post showed a photo of a Churchill statue alongside a picture of a crowded Tube carriage, with the caption: "Tell me we're not f***ed by multicultural b***cks."

It also read: "Why are we surrounded by non-white people? Just f*** off," and among the passengers who sat innocently during their journey was a woman wearing a hijab. Mike opened up about the ordeal for the first time in an interview on Dan Wootton Outspoken, where he recounted the moment his former colleague Julia Hartley-Brewer confirmed his exit as "cold."

After they watched the clip, Mike was asked: "How did that feel?" To which, he admitted: "It wasn't great. A bit North Korean, I thought."

When Dan prompted: "Cold, is that what you mean?" Mike agreed and added: "I thought the statement the company put out was a bit cold, and people that don't even know what my relationship is with the company said, 'That was cold, man.'

"They didn't even thank me for what I'd done ... I'm not a baby, I don't need patting on the head, but you know, I think if it had been me in the studio, I might have said something like 'really sorry to see Mike go, we worked togehter a long time and we wish him well.'"

The presenter continued: "I also get that sometimes the old three-line whip comes down, and it's also like 'you can't do any of that.'"

In their statement, TalkTV's parent company News UK revealed that Mike was ultimately sacked for "failure" to assist in the inquiry into the racist post.

Earlier this month, News UK said in a statement: "An abhorrent and vile post appeared on Mike Graham's Facebook page in October. Mike Graham said this was not posted by him, and he agreed to co-operate with a company investigation, using an independent forensic firm.

"He later reneged on several opportunities to cooperate with the company investigation.

"We have been gravely concerned at his repeated failure to cooperate on such a serious matter, and the decision has been taken that Mike Graham will not return to Talk."