Angus and partner flee to Italy

Angus Deayton has taken his partner Lise Meyer for a romantic holiday in Italy in an attempt to patch up their relationship.

Yesterday it was revealed that the Have I Got News For You presenter spent two nights with a prostitute, during which he took cocaine.

Today, the cleaner at the £2 million Islington house he shares with the scriptwriter confirmed they had left for Italy with their year-old son at the last minute, when the story broke. She added: "I don't know when they will be back."

A source close to Deayton added today: "Angus has been found out, he is very sorry for the hurt this will cause his family - and knows that he will probably be hounded day in, day out. He feels it is probably best to leave the country until the story blows over."

Neither Deayton or Meyer has been seen in Britain since the story broke in the News Of The World.

Deayton, 45, admitted being "devastated by the hurt this has caused my loved ones". His publicist Matthew Freud is reported to have said: "It's a bit frosty at home but I don't think you could call this relationship-threatening stuff. He's been a bloody idiot and I think Lise's opinion of him today is unprintable. But they are fine."

Deayton is also facing an onslaught from colleagues Ian Hislop and Paul Merton on this week's edition of Have I Got News For You. He has admitted: "I can rely on them to treat this with their usual sense of tact and discretion - not."

The shame of Angus Deayton