Vicargate: BBC Accused of Using Actor to Play Pro-Brexit Panelist on Newsnight

The BBC is under heavy fire after it emerged that a woman who appeared on its flagship evening show 'Newsnight' in support of Theresa May's Brexit deal, is in fact an actress.

The woman, Lynn Hayter, took part in what was presented as an in-studio ‘public panel' made up of six guests with each individual apparently representing the various sides of the Brexit debate. Miss Hayter, who was dressed as a church vicar, told Newsnight's presenter, Emily Maitlis, that she was "100 percent" behind May's controversial Brexit deal and called for the British people to "put faith in the government we have elected."

"They are members of parliament for a reason, we're not. Being a conservative born and bred all my life I will back prime minister May. It's going to be hard for everybody, it's going to be a rocky boat, but we've got to just sit it out and put faith in the government that we elected," Hayter said while on Newsnight.

However, since that show, which aired on November 26, it has emerged that Miss Hayter is no stranger to the television screens. In fact, she has allegedly appeared as an extra in multiple films and television programmes, including in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. According to reports, she typically performs on screen using her middle name, 'Marina.'

As a result of her appearance on one of the BBC's most watched political talk shows, theories are now in circulation in the blogosphere as to whether Hayter was paid by the British government, in her capacity as an actress, to support Miss May's deal live on television. Some have suggested that the decision for Hayter to wear a clerical collar was a deceptive move intended to sow trust in her words among the show's viewers.

A cursory Google search reveals that Lynn Hayter is also a Christian minister for a heterodox Church that calls itself, ‘Seeds of Wealth,' which promises that it can take congregations to a "higher level that will release you into your financial freedom."

Newsnight itself has taken the unprecedented step of issuing a statement of denial, saying that: "Claims that Lynn appeared on Newsnight as a paid actor are false."

"Lynn is a pastor and was a genuine participant of our Brexit debate. She carries out work as an extra using her middle name but this is not relevant to the capacity in which she appeared," they added.