WHEN Nigel Farage told his followers he would soon be making an announcement about a “big career change” Twitter was swift to react.

Some wondered whether he would be packing his Speedos and heading into the Love Island villa. Others suggested he might be hitching a ride with Richard Branson on his next vanity trip into space. The guesses came thick and fast. Would he be joining the Labour Party? Might the gammons’ favourite grifter be tempted to strip down to his greying Y-fronts to make some cash on OnlyFans?

I suppose that for a man who failed seven times to be elected as an MP the most implausible career change of all would be if he finally succeeded and made it into the House of Commons.

When the “big” career change was revealed, everybody quickly realised it wasn’t much of a change at all.

Farage is set to host a new hour-long show from Monday to Thursday on the ailing GB News. He said his show will “take on the tough issues of the day” and, in what was surely a taste of the broadcasting prowess to come, he told his fans to “be there or be square”.

Nigel Farage isn’t exactly a fresh face on TV. There was a time when his appearances across the news channels and political programmes came as regularly as the sun rising and setting.

One of the few good things about the coronavirus crisis is that it knocked Brexit and its shouty cheerleaders down the agenda. But now Farage is back in the spotlight, albeit in the less illustrious surroundings of the dimly lit, echoey studio of a failing news channel.

Apparently, Farage already had a slot on the channel, but it has decided to move him to a more prominent spot to try to boost its dismal viewing figures.

READ MORE: Nigel Farage is set to host a primetime show on the fledgling GB News channel

Since its launch, GB News has been plagued by technical issues. The inexperience of many of its presenters has made it look amateur.

There were bound to be teething problems, but there is something divinely comic about a bunch of right-wingers failing to reach an audience: not because of any shadowy “woke agenda”, but because of their own ineptitude.

The channel descended further into self-parody last week after Guto Harri was suspended for taking the knee live on air. Because nothing says DEFEND FREE SPEECH! REJECT CANCEL CULTURE! more than cancelling one of your own presenters for exercising their right to free speech.

In a piece for the Sunday Times, Harri criticised the channel for its double standards and denied claims that his decision to take the knee was to blame for dwindling viewing figures. “Rather than defending free speech and confronting cancel culture, it has set out to replicate it on the far right,’’ he said.

Still, small mercies. At least we now know that GB News does have some hard boundaries. Crackpot monologues, presenters who can barely read an Autocue and unspeakably dull debates between guests who agree are all fine, but GB News draws the line at anti-racist gestures.

Just in case there was any doubt, Farage pledged he “won’t be taking the knee for anyone” on his show.

The National:

We know what to expect from it, though. Farage will rely on the same reactionary schtick that made him a regular fixture on Question Time over the years.

His “man of the people” routine is as well-worn as it is disingenuous. Expect permanent outrage and shallow analysis of the culture war issues that his ilk rely upon to keep themselves relevant.

And, of course, there will be the usual dog-whistles to the racists and an insistence that immigration is to blame for all of the UK’s ills.

We know what he will say, but will the channel survive long enough for anybody to hear it?

Rumours are swirling about its fate, with some insiders conceding it was launched too soon. To have a relaunch of sorts so soon after its debut certainly doesn’t bode well for its future prospects.

And I’m not convinced that fixing the technical bugs and adding a few lamps will turn things around.

Its audience was told to expect something different. The idea was that regular news – that is to say, reporting events as they happen – wasn’t patriotic enough for post-Brexit Brits.

They wanted something altogether more cheerful and they wanted it draped in the colours of red white and blue.

READ MORE: Stephen Paton: This is why GB News was always destined for failure

What the channel has shown in the short time it has been around is that you can’t really have a news channel without the news. Commentary has its place, as does analysis. And we all like hearing stories about baby ducks being rescued from drains.

But – and this is a lesson for us all – news that is curated to filter out the tough stuff and include only that which reinforces our world view isn’t really news at all.

Nigel Farage’s new slot on GB News will be created in his image. While his loyal fans will see that as a reason to tune in, it won’t be enough to attract a wider audience.