Billy Bush to return to TV two years after Trump tape scandal

'We all have to be able to evolve as we grow'

Billy Bush will return to television screens, more than two years after being fired following the release of the infamous Access Hollywood tape featuring Donald Trump.

Bush will host ExtraExtra, an entertainment news show distributed by Warner Bros that will be broadcast on various Fox stations.

The presenter was fired from NBC’s Today programme in 2016 after The Washington Post published the Access Hollywood tape during the final months of Trump’s presidential campaign run.

The tape saw Trump, on the set of Days of Our Lives, discuss groping women and “grabbing them by the pussy” while Bush goaded him on.

Speaking to People about the new anchor gig, Bush said: “We all have to be able to evolve as we grow.

“The guy that left the scene in 2016 was already a changed person [since 2005], but I had the opportunity to grow up a little bit.

“Facing adversity in some way is good. And I feel I’ll be better at my job than I ever was. This is my next step.”

Bush was criticised by pundits soon after Access Hollywood tape was published and later explained himself in an op-ed for the New York Times.

“[We] assumed we were listening to a crass standup act,” he wrote. “[Trump] was performing. Surely, we thought, none of this was real. We now know better.”